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Older Women's Homelessness: designing smaller homes to meet rising demands
Older Women’s Homelessness:
A Growing Crisis
• 1 in 7 people experiencing homelessness are over 55 years old
• Only 1.62 percent of properties across Australia are affordable for single people on the age pension
• 14 percent of people aged 65-84, and 11 percent of people aged over 85, are now renting on the private market
• Home ownership rates dropped to 42% by 2014 and are expected to continue t
2017
Themes:
Partnering for impact to reduce homelessness in Queensland
'Partnering for Impact' details the broad directions and initial actions to generate innovation and revitalisation in the Queensland Government's response to homelessness. The first step will implement 5-year service agreements for existing services.
2017
Rise in Older Women Now Couch Surfing or Sleeping in Their Car
Imagine reaching the age of 55 and having to choose between couch surfing or sleeping in your car each night. This is the situation for thousands of older women in Australia.
Last year 1,618 women aged over 50 who presented at homelessness services were couch surfing according to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data.
This number has risen by 83% in the last four years.
2017
Tiny houses: Interest is growing but who wants them and why?
My research to date has found a marked increase in people who want their own tiny house, particularly among older women.
Based on earlier research, I argued tiny houses could be part of a solution to the perennial and wicked problem of unaffordable housing, as well as improving urban density and the environmental sustainability of housing.
Demographically, interest in tiny houses is biased towar
2017
Themes:
Older homeless women’s identity negotiation: agency, resistance, and the construction of a valued self
Although men still outnumber women among the US adult homeless population, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of women, including older women, seeking shelter each night.
The concept of ‘home’ is widely associated with women and serves as a source of identity and social order. Thus, homeless older women represent an intersection of stigma.
2017
How a Group of Female Seniors Decided to Forgo a Retirement Home for a Co-Living Space
An article about the Toronto project of senior co-housing for older women based on the French La Maison des babayagas, or The Babayagas' House.
2017
Themes:
Preventing Evictions of Senior Tenants in the GTA
This paper presents our findings from conversations and consultations about the issue of seniors' evictions across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). It is intended as a starting point from which communities can move toward finding solutions to this growing issue.
2017
Themes:
Older Women's Studio Development Project
The aim of the project was to explore whether the model of smaller accommodation was suitable for housing
homeless older women in the inner and middle ring communities of Sydney. It was designed to be carried out in
two stages. Stage 1 engaged older women in co-designing smaller spaces that would work for them as long-term
homes.
2017
Senior Cohousing in Cost-Cutting Research
This paper concerns the issue of senior cohousing, with particular emphasis on the residents' gender. It looks at the 'feminisation of ageing' where in Poland, 80% of people 65+ living alone are women.
2016
Themes:
The Ache for Home: A Plan to Address Chronic Homelessness and Housing Unaffordability in Australia
Australia has a crisis in the supply
of social and affordable housing.
This is evidenced by the hundreds
of thousands who are experiencing
homelessness, on wait-lists for
public housing, or living in severe
housing stress. Taken together, the
statistics tell us that across Australia
there are over 105,000 people
experiencing homelessness and
875,000 households experiencing
housing stress.
2016
"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort."