Utilising a life course perspective to explain women over 55 being the fastest growing group of homeless people in Australia

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue II, February 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

Utilising a life course perspective to explain women over 55 being the fastest growing group of homeless people in Australiae

Nicole Cullinan
The University of Melbourne

Abstract: This paper analyses that homeless women over the age of 55 are a product of a modern institutionalised life that is highly segmented and individualised. Life course theory forms the foundation of discussion for exploring understanding of this phenomenon. This paper acknowledges that life always takes place within a bounded agency that is subject to the social conditions of that time.

I. INTRODUCTION

Growing rates of homelessness in Australian women over 55 years of age can be explored via macro and micro elements of the life course. Ordering of the life course occurs at both a structural level and at a biographical level, these are the two forms of reality that shape a person’s life. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports women over 55 can become homeless when they divorce, separate, are widowed or experience domestic violence. Glen Elder’s (1974) life principles will be utilised to observe the interconnections between macro and micro life course whilst Ulrich Beck (1992), Zygmunt Bauman (2001) and Martin Kohli (1994) provide theories for introspection and analysis. Women over the age of 55 belong to the baby boomer generation and their placement within this cohort will be discussed at length, both from a Norman Ryder (1965) and Angela O’Rand (1990) perspective. This paper attempts to reconcile that life unfolds in a context specific manner that is representative of both qualitative and quantitative circumstance.

II. THE HISTORICAL EMERGENCE OF GROWING RATES OF HOMELESS WOMEN.

There have been many articles recently in National newspapers and magazines informing the public of a ‘hidden crisis’, the fact that Australian women over 55 years of age are the fastest growing group of homeless people. This quantitative data has emerged through social justice organisations conducting cross sectional research, some have considered it a surprising and unpredictable discovery. Susan Ryan (2016), former Commissioner for Age Discrimination states this ‘unexpected discovery’ is possibly due to parochial beliefs regarding inequality and discrimination. It is viable to hypothesis this astonishment is caused by looking through the lens of traditional life course theory.

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