The right to housing is guaranteed to all citizens by the constitution, but providing for adequate housing for all has become a problem in a time of major economic reforms. In the Soviet era, most housing (state-owned) was provided free or at very low costs for many citizens. According to a 1980 Soviet estimate, 20 % of urban families (and 53 percent in Leningrad) shared apartments; that percentage had dropped slightly by the end of the Soviet era. Young, unmarried Russians often found housing only in crowded hostels operated by their employer; young married couples frequently lived with one set of parents until they could locate in an apartment. In 1990 the average floor area per person in Moscow was 17.8 square meters, and in Russia as a whole it was 16.4 square meters, compared with averages in Western countries
of between thirty and forty-five square meters per person. Since 2002, economic reform has called for many residents to begin paying more of the costs for rent, maintenance, and utilities. The government still allows somewhat generous subsidies for low-income families. But the main housing problem seems to be in maintenance and renovation of buildings that are in urgent need of both structural repairs and upgrades in utility systems. As of 1999, about 60% of
the housing stock has been privatized.