When home is no longer safe for older women
Homelessness is hitting an unexpected group in Australia: women over 50. This is according to Dr. Lisa Ewenson, Chancellor's Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney. Decades of unpaid or undervalued labor has left this population with fewer financial resources for when climate change makes where they are living no longer safe. Extreme heat, floods, fires and storms are forcing them to move to trailer parks and overcrowded homes or live in their cars and other temporary accommodations. As part of her community-embedded research project, Emerson is gathering the stories of these women. These stories are not only meant to show how housing insecurity develops, but to allow the women to be part of the solution. These solutions need to include law, policy, and social change. This means seeing housing as a basic right, instituting more affordable public housing, ensuring fair and stable incomes, and finally giving care labor the respect it deserves while ensuring that elders are shown the respect they deserve as well.











