Posts tagged Aging

The Unequal Burden of Australian Pension Reform on low-income women

Older women are the fastest-growing cohort at risk of homelessness in Australia, reflecting their increased financial insecurity, which is created by a cocktail of gendered social norms, differential career trajectories for women compared to their male peers, and the tax and transfer system. A key policy lever that is reducing older women’s financial independence is the increase in the qualifying age for the Age Pension. Originally legislated in 1994, this reform has not been fully examined for its impacts on older women, until now. Today’s analysis from Todd Morris (@ToddMorrisecon) shares research he conducted while with the University of Melbourne School of Business and Economics (@BusEcoNews) on how this policy reform has contributed to the financial insecurity of older women in Australia. This analysis first appeared on the Austaxpolicy blog; you can read it in its original form here: LINK The Unequal Burden on Women of Australian Pension Reform. You can read the full article here: : The Unequal Burden of Retirement Reform: Evidence from Australia

Womens Policy Action TankWomen's Policy Action Tank1 December 2021Gender Inequity, financial wellbeing, Aging, Aged policy, retirement, Poverty

Skilled, productive, resilient - what's going wrong for older women? Lorraine's story

For Anti-Poverty Week, we are focussing on older women’s disadvantage, accumulated across a lifetime. An earlier post explored how older women are now the largest demographic reliant on the Newstart Allowance, which is pushing many into crisis. In today’s post, “Lorraine”[1] generously shares her story, in her own words. Lorraine is 70 years old, currently living in private rental accommodation. She receives a full age pension and commonwealth rent assistance while also working part-time. Her story contains many of the barriers and bumps that all women face – relationship breakdown, single parenting, the need to reskill, relocation for jobs, being called upon to help with caring for ageing parents or grandbabies, and that ever-present sexually-transmitted debt. Lorraine was one of several peer researchers on Per Capita’s (@PerCapita) recent report on innovative solutions for housing precarity for older women. We are thankful to her for allowing us to share her story here.

Womens Policy Action TankWomen's Policy Action Tank15 October 2019Aging, aged policy, financial vulnerability, Gender Inequity, care work, housing and homelessness

Quality, not just quantity: How government investment into care work could grow the economy

The undervaluing of caring work is a key driver of gender inequality. In today’s analysis, Kathy McDermott of the National Foundation for Australian Women (@NFAWomen) provides a summary of their submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. They argue that investing in social infrastructure is economically savvy, providing supports for our biggest-growing industries while also tackling the gender pay gap.

Womens Policy Action TankWomen's Policy Action Tank3 September 2019Aging, economic policy, gender pay gap

What does the future of care look like?

Will it soon be possible to outsource our caring responsibilities for ourselves, our children and our parents to robots? Catherine Smith and Helen Dickinson ask what the human rights, privacy, equity and practical implications for care would be in a tech-dominated future.

Innovation, IssuesPower to Persuade6 August 2018Aging, care work, technology, Data, human rights

Asking the experts: Using the lived experience of older adults with depression to inform policy and practice

Older adults are highly motivated to participate in research and rate depression as a priority research topic. So why aren’t we involving them more in research and policy development? Meg Polacsek, PhD Candidate, Victoria University, considers the importance of engaging with these members of our community.

Issues, Policy and governancePower to Persuade12 June 2017ageing, Aging, Aged policy, Lived/consumer experience

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