On International Women’s Day 2023, AHURI released a Brief that explores what the housing crisis is costing Australian women. According to the Brief, while there is currently no comprehensive approach to understanding gender and its role in housing, what we do know is sobering:
- women are less likely to own a home to support them in retirement
- older women paying off a mortgage experience higher levels of stress than their male peers, impacting on their health and wellbeing, placing further demands on our health systems
- as housing becomes less affordable, homelessness rates are rising. Older women and women fleeing violence are more vulnerable to homelessness; meaning younger women are over-represented in homelessness numbers and older women are the fastest growing group of homeless.
Increasing the supply of affordable housing with safe, secure tenure is essential to reducing the impacts of the ongoing housing crisis for women, and to creating a foundation for healthy, productive lives for over half our population.
Both older women and women and children escaping foamily and domestic violence should be prioritised for social and affordable housing, designed to meets their specific needs.
