Homeless Old Women in Sydney

Life is getting tough for single older women, especially if they lose their job. Sydney rents are through the roof, so high in fact, unless you are a couple with two incomes, they are out of reach for most people. So with the high rents, divorce and companies cutting back on staff, there's a recent surge in older women who find themselves homeless. Because the charities have only limited beds available, they are sleeping rough in Sydney. And it's winter.

Ludo McFerran from the Older women's Network says the lack of affordable housing in Australia, higher rates of divorce and separation and the tendency of women to be in lower paid jobs, have created a housing crisis for women in their 50's and 60's.

Single women who were able to stand on their own two feet are now finding themselves homeless and it can happen to anyone. Elizabeth 62, is an IT professional who says she found it hard to find work because of age discrimination. When the global financial crisis struck, Elizabeth could not afford to pay her mortgage so she was forced out of her home. She lived with friends for a while but when they moved interstate, she was left homeless. She's now in a refuge for older women in Sydney. It has just 10 beds and is run by the St Vincent de Paul Society with no government funding.

Experts say that homelessness increases the risk of mental health. I can believe it, it would send me crazy for sure. I was thinking about divorce and the friends I have who were once married but now find themselves single. Had my husband and I decided to go our separate ways and split everything down the middle, there wouldn't be enough to buy another property outright so I would probably put the money in the bank and rent. Over time, this money would be eroded away with the general expenses of living and I could find myself broke with nowhere to go. Because of my age as an older woman, I would probably find it hard to get another job. My husband on the other hand, would probably find work, even if it was driving a truck. His capacity to earn is far greater than mine.

So who should we blame? The Federal Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek was not available for comment. At the moment, there is no public housing, especially in Sydney. Families are paying a fortune to live in motels throughout the city with 2 adults and small children all living in one small room. On the tv last week we saw a young woman and 2 children living in a car.

So why are the rents so high? There are no figures to prove it , but I think it's because of 'investment properties'. People buy a flat/house and the rent pays off the mortgage - great idea. But the rents are so high, it takes two wages to pay for it and there's not much left over, certainly not enough to start saving for a deposit for your own property.

How many of your friends lost money on the stockmarket- it was a bolt from the blue. The Financial Advisor at the banks advised us that the share market was the way to go, so much better than a term deposit, if we looked back over time, shares were a great insurance for your retirement. Then the bottom fell out of the market. Funny that, how well we followed Gordon Gekko's advice that Greed is Good'.

But somehow it seems to have back-fired on us and what are we left with? Good people losing their homes, high unemployment and now, old ladies sleeping on the street. And it's finally caught up with the Lucky Country.