Older Single Women Managing the Housing Crisis

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.

We are lucky in Australia, but in Holland, a single person who wants to leave money to a family member can do this quite easily, but if they want to leave €600,000 to a good friend, or someone else close to them, that person will pay more than €200,000 in tax.

One of the greatest challenges for single people is the cost of living on one income in an economy and society built on a dual income household. For single women this is more challenging not only because they have to take time out of work to care for ailing relatives, or because health challenges demand it, but they continuously earn less than men. All this prevents them from building a financial buffer to aid their recovery after a catastrophic weather event--which we now expect everyone will experience once in their life--but it prevents them from saving enough for a dignified retirement.