preview

The Social Issue Of Homelessness

Decent Essays

Homelessness is a social issue which extends beyond a lack of housing and includes the complexities of social and economic concerns such as domestic violence, child abuse, trauma and addictions, mental health, insufficient income, health complications, involvement with the justice system, and poverty. Homelessness is a difficult phenomenon to define as it is dependent upon societal constructs, mainly revolving around the concept of ‘home’ and how it is largely influenced by family structures more so than it is by living without physical shelter (Watson, 1984, p. 60). The Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] defines homelessness as a lack of suitable accommodation, without tenure or extendable tenure, and does not have the security of …show more content…

This could be one of the reasons accounting for 71.6 per cent of all part-time employees being women, 54.7 per cent as casual employees, and only 36.7 per cent of all full-time employees (ABS, 2015). In one study amongst married heterosexual parents working full-time in America, the division of household labour showed that mothers were mostly responsible for scheduling children’s activities while fathers were mostly responsible for discipline, play time, and household chores (Pew Research Centre, 2015, p. 2). This labour is entirely placed upon 83 per cent of single parents with dependent children which are mothers; with only 56 per cent of that group being employed (ABS, 2015, para. 3). In 2016, women working full-time earned an average of 16.2 per cent less than men (ABS, 2016). Connecting these statistics, it can be proposed that single parenthood pushes women into poverty as they are unlikely to work enough hours each week to afford placing children in day-care centres. Before the Child Care Benefit and the Child Care Rebate, day care costs between $70-200 per day (Elliot, 2017, para. 4). Whether single mothers are working or taking care of their children, they financially suffer either way. Additionally, single older women also suffer housing crisis as they are less likely to have been the owners of their residence throughout their life leaving them less likely to be granted housing (Darab & Harmann, 2013). Homelessness amongst

Get Access