How did The More the Merrier reflect the wartime housing shortage in Washington, D.C.?

In the 1943 screwball comedy The More the Merrier, director George Stevens utilized the severe wartime housing shortage in Washington, D.C., as the central premise for the film's plot.

The story follows a government worker who, acting out of patriotism, decides to rent out half of her small home to help alleviate the city's housing crunch. The comedic complications arise when the man she rents to subsequently sublets half of his own space to a soldier, leading to an overcrowded living situation that forces the characters together. This narrative device effectively captured the real-world reality of the era, during which the capital's population swelled with government and military workers, leading to the widespread conversion of private residences into rooming houses and rental properties to accommodate the influx.12