Why we exist
We exist to provide secure and affordable homes for low income women and women led families, because they are least likely to have access to them.
The gender disparity
Appropriate and secure housing is a basic human need and right that is not being adequately met by the public or private sectors. Housing has never been more unaffordable.
Housing stress and homelessness are deeply gendered issues. The rate of homelessness is accelerating amongst women. The inherent financial disadvantage that women face limits their access to secure and affordable housing. This disadvantage is based on gender inequality and is experienced at every age and stage of a woman’s life.
Women earn less than men. They have limits on their ability to work full-time and they spend more time out of the workforce caring for children and the elderly – work that is unpaid and chronically undervalued in economic terms.
The facts
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Casual employment
Women are over-represented in casual employment and the lowest paying industries and professions
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Half the super
Women retire with almost half the superannuation that men do
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Experience Violence
Women are three times more likely to experience violence at the hands of a partner
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Single Parents
Women represent more than 80% of single parents who are three times more likely to live in poverty
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Low income
Women make up 60% of low income earners for whom only a small fraction of properties in the private rental market are affordable
More women live in poverty than men – it’s that simple.
This gendered poverty is closely linked to housing crisis and homelessness. For vulnerable women, the tipping point into homelessness can be as simple as losing a job, the break-up of a relationship or the death of a partner. Not to mention a pandemic!
The statistics are harrowing:
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2 out of 3 people approaching homeless services are women. Half of those are escaping family violence
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In the 2021 Census, women accounted for more than 80% of the increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness
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In 2023, more women than men in all age groups other than children under the age of 9 sought assistance from Specialist Homelessness Services
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More than half of single women in Australia over 50, earn the minimum wage or less – which does not cover the costs of even the most basic housing
