Built on the land of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation
In the last year, home prices in Australia have grown at their quickest rate since 1989 – almost eleven times faster than wages. Fuelled by upsizers, downsizers and “changeover” buyers, the pandemic property boom, which flickered to life amid an uneven COVID-19 recession expected to compound women’s lifetime economic disadvantage, has worsened the crisis of affordability for those already locked out of the housing market. This crisis is often framed as a form of generational conflict. But as property windfalls are passed down, access to homeownership is at risk of becoming “hereditary.” It is older single women who are left most vulnerable. Longer life expectancy, increased divorce rates, the burden of caregiving, and lower savings and superannuation – the legacy of a persistent wage gap, workforce absences and casualized employment
