Although the Soviet minimum norm of the housing area, admitted from 
the sanitary point of view, is 8 square metres per head, the actual average 
dimension of the housing area formed 6,8 sq. m. in the year 1923 — and 
was reduced to 6. sp. m. in the year 1924 and to 5,6 sp. m. in the 
year 1926. In some districts and towns the housing area allowed per 
workman is much less than the average above. Particularly bad are the 
housing conditions in the mining industrial region of the Donetz Basin 
in the South of Russia. When reading in Soviet papers characteristics of 
the housing condition prevailing in Russia, one comes across such terms as 
‘coffin norm”. 
[t is true that of late large sums are being assigned by the Soviet 
Government — in tens and hundreds of millions — for the sake of providing 
the workmen with new lodgings. But, firstly, these sums are relatively 
insignificant considering the dreadful state of the nationalized houses, 
secondly, these sums are usually spent most irrationally and the building 
of new houses is uncommonly high. 
How hard the solution of this problem is for the Soviet Government 
ran be seen from the following estimate. According to the calculations 
of the Supreme Council of National Economy no less than 4.300—5.000 
millions roubles would have to be spent in the course of the next 5 years 
in order to be able to retain the present housing norm amounting to about 
b sq. m. per person. Whereas judging even from the rather optimistic 
D years plan of development of the national economy, which we have 
already mentioned, only 2.290 millions roubl. could be assigned for this 
purpose. The Moscow paper “Isvestija” from which we quote these data, 
comes to a very pessimistic but correct conclusion: — 
“It is evident that a further diminution of the actual housing norm 
fixed per head awaits us in the coming years.” 
In order to obtain a better idea, of the workmen’s housing conditions, 
one should turn not to statistics but to different descriptions which appear 
occasionally in the Soviet press. Thus, the communistic trade union paper 
“Troud” (of January 19, 1928) states that in some workmen-settlements 
in the district of the Ural works about 17—18 workmen manage to live 
on an area of 2 sq. sagenes (about 5 sq. m.). “This trick” — says the 
paper — is explained by the system of the “three shifts”, i. e. — the 
same bed is used by 3 workmen in the course of 24 hours. A twenty-four 
hours working day for one bed! 
Another description published in the same paper “Troud” (of Ja- 
nuary 20, 1928) applies to the new large glass factory in the Caucasus — 
‘Fire of Dagestan” built by the Soviet Government. It says the following 
bout the workmen's lodgings: “Terribly crowded lodgings, only 3,9 sq. m. 
1992