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New Singles Talk event focused on the Singlehood Penalty
March 26, 2026
The Singlehood Penalty exists. In an economy increasingly reliant on a two-income household, people doing life on a single income are challenged by living costs catering to dual incomes and may struggle to save a buffer for a financial or health crisis, a catastrophic weather event, professional training, or retirement. Consumer prices, wages, taxation, and social services, are built on the family household as the basic economic unit, yet according to the ABS, 27% of Australian homes are one-person households. Join CEO of Singlehood Australia, Donna Ward, in conversation with Executive Director for Working with Women Alliance Dr Gemma Killen, Dr Gen Ford Research Management specialist, and Sarah Sinclair from RMIT as they explore the economics of singlehood.
Donna Ward has worked in community advocacy, and social research and policy development across the social services sector. At midlife she turned her talents to writing and publishing, establishing the micro-press Inkerman & Blunt. In 2020 her memoir, Share I Dare Not Name: A Spinsters Meditations on Life was published by Allen and Unwin. In 2024 she presented at the Third International Single Studies Conference in Boston, USA, established Singlehood Australia, and instigated the International Singlehood Advocacy Network.
Dr Gemma Killen in her work with the Working with Women Alliance (WwWA)brings together expertise and sector experience to provide advice to Goverhment on Gender equality and women's safety. WwWA represents women in all their diversity, and advocates on issues relating to women's safety and gender equality, including economic security. Gemma is interested in the singlehood penalty as an extra economic burden for women and as a significant factor in the ability to escape form domestic or family violence.
Dr Gen Ford has a PhD in International Relations and background in consulting and research management with a particular interest in higher education, social policy, research and the natural environment. Gen has a long interest in how social power structures and disadvantage impact on our choices. To be able to afford a garden of her own, she moved to regional Victoria in 2024 where she lives the reality of juggling property maintenance, building a financial buffer, and planning for a retirement on a single income.
Sarah Sinclair's current work focuses on the economics of singlehood - exploring what it means, financially and socially, to live as a single person today. She is interested in how systems like housing markets, taxation, and retirement planning, often initially designed around couples and families, can better reflect the needs of single people. Sarah in interested in how people make decisions about work, family, and everyday life in a rapidly changing world.
