The Selwyn Foundation supports the need to respond with targeted interventions to prevent homelessness amongst women (and older women, in particular) as outlined in the Ngā Ara ki te Kāinga | Understanding Barriers and Solutions to Women’s Homelessness in Aotearoa report*. This compelling new research published on 5 December 2024 by The Coalition to End Women’s Homelessness exposes the confronting realities of women’s homelessness in Aotearoa New Zealand and highlights the alarming increase in older women experiencing homelessness and housing deprivation.
The research demonstrates that women face additional barriers to securing housing as they age, due to unique gender-related challenges later in life. This can be a result of outliving partners or husbands, having little or no control over finances, earning less thus contributing less to KiwiSaver, and the negative implications of domestic violence and divorce.
Additionally, research indicates that the growing problem of elder abuse in Aotearoa is likely to impact women more as they live longer than men. For older women facing poverty, who lose their homes due to financial abuse by family members or trusted advocates or due to being widowed or getting divorced, extreme housing precarity is a major issue. There are also significant health impacts of living in homelessness, including a shorter life expectancy, more frequent health problems, and increased use of emergency and hospital services.
The report calls for Government and policymakers to develop policies using an intersectional and equity lens to respond to the complex needs of this growing demographic and the unique challenges they face. Addressing women’s homelessness requires the dismantling of gendered barriers, the resourcing of effective providers and community partnerships, and supporting women’s physical and mental wellbeing. Through targeted interventions, women’s homelessness can be prevented from occurring in the first place.