A mural by Amanda Newman in Northcote, Melbourne, depicts Ai Fen, a Wuhan Central Hospital doctor who was reprimanded for raising the alarm about COVID-19 in December 2019.
Photo: Carl Grodach
The inner suburbs are home to large numbers of workers in jobs vulnerable to the pandemic. If they're forced to seek cheaper housing in outer suburbs, the urban divide will widen.
More older Australians are carrying housing debt later in life, or not owning homes at all, but lack suitable alternatives to the family home. The result is lower incomes in retirement.
The damaging effects of housing disadvantage on people’s mental health can persist even years after their housing situation improves.
Lovely Bird/Shutterstock
The difficulties for people facing housing disadvantage don't end as soon as their situation improves. They are at higher risk of poorer mental health years or even decades later.
The apartment complex in Erskineville, Sydney, that is abandoned due to fears the homes are on contaminated ground.
Joel Carrett/AAP
Hundreds of thousands of Australians are forced into inadequate or unhealthy housing by high housing costs.
Some children in New Zealand live in such hardship that they don’t have a good pair of shoes and have to put up with feeling cold.
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Michael Fletcher, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
The New Zealand government has set targets for reducing child poverty, but with hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty, this goal remains a challenge.
Although tiny houses take many forms, most are situated in rural or semi-rural areas.
Jekka Shearer
Tiny houses aren't for everyone, but most people who live in them are positive about the experience. Yet planning laws still make this way of life harder and less secure than it could be.
The housing boom increased wealth gains for affluent households while rising housing costs undermined income gains for less affluent households.
Sam Mooy/AAP
Ilan Wiesel, The University of Melbourne; Liss Ralston, Swinburne University of Technology, and Wendy Stone, Swinburne University of Technology
The Productivity Commission neglected the impact of housing costs. After allowing for these costs, the top 10% of households' average disposable income grew at 2.7 times the rate of the bottom 10%.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson argues his housing reforms would increase self-sufficiency.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
The administration's proposed changes to a decades-old housing program supporting the poorest Americans would jack up rents and deepen poverty in the US.
Rather than tinkering with the deduction, Republicans should get rid of it altogether and replace it with something that would actually help more Americans afford a home.
A tiny house in the backyard appeals to some as a solution that offers both affordability and sustainability.
Think Out Loud/flick
New research has found a marked increase in people, particularly among women over 50, who are building or want to build a tiny house. However, inflexible planning rules often stand in their way.
Add up all the neglected costs of downsizing and retirees have good reason to be wary of making the move.
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Retirees are often urged to downsize to free up suburban properties for the next generation and for higher-density development. What's being ignored is the costs of moving into a unit or apartment.
Even though they don't consistently have a roof over their heads, the homeless do their best to create a routine, form communities and make a home – just like the rest of society.
How much of co-housing is shared space is up to residents.
Chris Riedy, University of Technology Sydney; Kylie McKenna, University of Technology Sydney; Laura Wynne, University of Technology Sydney, and Matthew Daly, University of Technology Sydney
Older Australians are keenly aware of the housing challenges they face, but most are wary of co-housing due to the negative associations of shared living spaces.
Low-cost housing development on the city outskirts can expose owners to higher costs in the long run.
Paul Miller/AAP
People are taking on larger future risks and costs just so they can buy a house. Increases in new home owners are seen as a positive development, but what if they can't afford the ongoing costs?
Even properties at the lower end of the market are beyond the means of most people on low fixed incomes.
Tom Rabe/AAP
Only a small proportion of housing is affordable for low-income earners, while people on Newstart or Youth Allowance don't have any affordable options at all.
The growing numbers of pensioners in private rental accommodation use much of their income to pay for housing.
Alan Porritt/AAP
For the increasing proportion of people living in private rental accommodation who can expect to be dependent on the age pension, the prospects of financial and housing insecurity are grim.
The issue of child poverty and its links to housing costs are not widely acknowledged in Australia.
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Income poverty statistics tell us relatively little about why Australian children live in poverty, or how to alleviate it. But housing plays a critical part in the problem.
Professor of Social Epidemiology, Principal Research Fellow in Social Epidemiology and Director of the Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy Housing in Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne
Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University
PhD Candidate, School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania, and Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney