More children are growing up in private rentals and facing housing insecurity, a new report finds, warning that it could have long-term implications for their development and mental wellbeing. Source: ABC News.
The study by four researchers at Adelaide University – Amy Clair, Emma Baker, Lynne Giles and Claire Morey – has been released by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute today.
Analysing a range of comprehensive and long-term datasets, such as the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey and the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, the authors have attempted to determine the effects of Australia’s multi-decade housing affordability crisis on children.
The report finds that as housing prices surged between 2001 and 2023, the proportion of households with children living in homes owned outright plunged 52 per cent, those in social rentals fell 46 per cent as the public housing sector stagnated, while those who owned with a mortgage increased 27 per cent, and those in private rentals rose 20 per cent.
Research lead Associate Professor Amy Clair said the latter statistic was particularly concerning as children growing up in private rental properties move roughly every 2.3 years, on average.
“By age 14, a child in a private rental had moved an average of six times. By comparison, those in households that owned their home had moved a little over twice on average, and children in social housing had moved just over four times,” she said.
The data shows children growing up in households with a mortgage tend to have moved about three times by age 14, which is half as often as those in a family renting.
However, those averages also mask more extreme housing instability in many cases.
About one in eight children growing up in private rentals had lived in 10 or more homes by age 14, compared to approximately one in 40 children living in a home owned with a mortgage, the research found.
“Results were concerning, as housing impacts mattered most during developmental transitions, such as starting school, when disruption can compound other disadvantages,” Dr Clair said.
She said children’s experiences were often ignored in the public discussion of housing affordability, partly through a lack of data about their housing status, and better information could help foster the housing conditions that allow children to thrive.
FULL STORY
More children are growing up in rental housing and moving every couple of years (By Michael Janda, ABC News)
