The drift of country dwellers to the city has been checked, and it is possible that some cities have begun to lose population. Large numbers of cities have run into financial difficulties, many of them defaulting their indebtedness, while some have failed even to pay their employees. Many have had to submit to state and federal oversight either through "municipal receiverships" or through state and federal underwriting of relief expenditures. There is no evidence that the percentage of families on relief is greater in urban than in rural communities, but relief costs per family are markedly higher in the former. A deficit in new housing for low-income urban groups began to appear early in the depression. The slump in building activities has been catastrophic in the case of low-cost housing. Attempts of limited dividend and governmental agencies to fill up the gap have so far failed to reach the classes most in need of aid.