State of the Family report reveals older women more vulnerable to poverty, citing unpaid caring responsibilities, lower savings and lack of affordable housing
The State of the Family report,
released on Monday, found that older single women were much more vulnerable to
poverty and homelessness due to lower workplace participation, lifelong unpaid
caring responsibilities and lack of affordable housing.
Many found themselves without stable
long-term accommodation when they left abusive relationships after their adult
children had moved out.
“Older single women represent the
changing face of homelessness; experiencing homelessness for the first time
later in life,” the report said. “Most have limited financial resources and
assets meaning they are unable to hold their place in a housing market which is
becoming increasingly unaffordable.
“Anecdotally, we know that the
instances of older women experiencing unstable housing are on the rise.”
The report said statistics did not
necessarily reflect the trend of older women living in their cars or seeking
temporary shelter with friends and family. “Such arrangements are often not
captured within the official counts of homelessness, but there is no disputing
this is an emerging trend, and one that must be urgently addressed.”
According to the report, women of
retirement age had 57% less superannuation savings than men due to greater
caring responsibilities through the course of their lives. Taking time out from
paid employment to look after children and ageing parents meant they had less
superannuation.
The State of the Family report also
highlighted other groups who were vulnerable to poverty.
It noted that refugees and asylum
seekers struggled to find secure accommodation in the competitive rental market
due to a combination of lower income, poor English skills, lack of knowledge of
the process and racism and discrimination.
People with a disability are also more
susceptible to poverty, as they face several barriers in getting into paid
employment.
As of August, Australia’s unemployment
rate was 6.2%. For people living with a disability, that rate was 9.4%.
The report also revealed that gains in
the broader community were made at the expense of people living with
disability.
“Workforce participation rates for
people with disability have declined at the same time as national participation
rates have improved,” it said. “One fifth of the people with a disability who
are not participating in the work force has reported that their disability is
not the reason that they are not participating.”
Anglicare recorded data from over
36,600 people who accessed its six emergency relief centres in Sydney and the
Illawarra between 2007 and 2014.
Unemployment and housing stress were
two key factors.
Only 5% of the people who accessed the
centre had full or part time work, and the majority – 62% of people seeking
relief from the centres – had a fortnightly income of $1,000 or less. A massive
94% of single people who accessed the centre had a fortnightly income of $1,000
or less.
“For the two-year period [between]
2013-14, 68% of emergency relief clients from lone person households fell within
or below the December 2013 poverty line,” the report said. “Almost one in three
(30%) were approaching severe housing stress by spending more than 45% of their
low income on accommodation costs.”
