Homelessness is about human beings, not their gender.

A heartfelt message to be sure. It just shows how critically important it is for young people to take spouse selection seriously and to have lots of children that will be there for you when you get older.

Helen:
I'm not sure Labor will fix very much? Given those benches are invariably filled with comfortable well off middle class folk, Who seem to think, a single night sleeping rough once are year, will confer insight?

As negatively geared landlords, too many of them are, [I'm all right Jack,] part of the problem, they've had yonks to fix!

Moreover, fewer children these days will buy a parent a home, as I did!

I mean, the worker now carries the bulk of our tax liability, with pensioners even paying a GST on essentials that may include energy. Generated in power stations their taxes bought and paid for, etc/etc!

Then they are slugged a fuel excise tax on top of that even in the remote villages and where housing is still affordable but invariably, have the distinction of extremely limited public transport.

There's no easy answer here! [Premer Andrews euthanasia perhaps?]

Nor is making the government responsible for our older citizens, essentially abandoned by their kids, the answer.

The answer, is politically unpalatable in most of Labor's ranks. And starts with genuinely affordable base load energy!

Denied!

Why?

Because nuclear energy is not Labor policy! Also, real tax reform, that stops letting major multinationals off the hook, you know those one third, who pay no tax whatsoever!

Even so, the top tax rate paid as real money, to treasury last year, topped out at 17%. Yet here we have the equally inept conservatives, rabbiting on about tax breaks for millionaires.

So, we do need to grow the economy, while seriously slowing migration to essential skills based and family reunion only!

Moreover, if we but grow the economy without overstimulating population growth! Homelessness would all but vanish overnight, for virtually all demographics, save say, panhandling drunks?

As a father of Daughters, who will likely as not never ever be able to afford to buy their own home! I'd offer to share my home, except I'm over dictatorial, dominating dowagers well into their dotage.
Alan B.

Ttbn.

I don't agree. There is a fundamental psychological difference between male and female imperatives for life.

Women are gifted with the nesting instinct, while the male of our species, have the roaming gene imbedded.

For a woman to be homeless, and wandering without a nest, is doubly painful.

It is a very sick society, especially a wealthy one, that fails to make a priority of housing its vulnerable women and children.

It's a standard to call women and children to the life boats of a sinking ship.

Seems 'equality' has caught up with them perhaps ? Lots of homeless men many years back...thoughts ?

The one main driver she missed is divorce. I listened to a fascinating ABC program on older women homelessness a couple of years ago and the one theme that ran through all the stories was divorce. The unintended consequences of the change to no fault divorce in the 1970's. It doesn't matter if men have more super than women if they are living as a couple. We seem to have forgotten that marriage is an economic relationship as well as a personal one and when we do away with it both parties suffer. Men end up socially isolated and women sometimes end up homeless.