During anti-poverty week, Anglicare released an update to their Rental Affordability Snapshot based on essential workers in full time work.
The report shows that of 45,115 rental listings,
- 976 rentals (2.2%) were affordable for an ambulance worker
- 696 rentals (1.5%) were affordable for an aged care worker
- 629 rentals (1.4%) were affordable for a nurse
- 398 rentals (0.9%) were affordable for an early childhood educator
- 389 rentals (0.9%) were affordable for a construction worker
- 352 rentals (0.8%) were affordable for a hospitality worker.
Many essential workers are pushed into serious rental stress or travelling long distances to work.
According to Kasy Chambers, Anglicare Australia Executive Director,
“Virtually no part of Australia is affordable for aged care workers, early childhood educators, cleaners, nurses and many other essential workers we rely on. It’s no wonder so many critical industries are facing worker shortages.
“It’s been clear for years now that the private rental market is failing people on low incomes. Now it’s clear that it’s also failing our key workers – including those who work full-time.
“Governments used to provide homes directly to key workers. Now, there isn’t even enough social housing for people at the margins. We need a major investment to turn that around.”
Much more social and affordable housing is urgently needed to reverse these findings. Tax reform, increased housing supply, more housing options, improved infrastructure, new incentives to invest in more types of long term, affordable housing and more protections for renters all play a part in solving the housing crisis.
Rental-Affordability-Snapshot-Essential-Workers-Report.pdf
