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<\/p>\nThe past few years have been “bumpy” for Hunter and his mother.<\/p>\n
Inflation and rising rental costs bit into their single-parent household budget.<\/p>\n
Then the “explosion” came.<\/p>\n
Their home on the New South Wales’ Mid North Coast, which they had for more than 10 years, was being put up for sale.<\/p>\n
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Hunter and his mum live in the NSW coastal town of Port Macquarie.\u00a0 (Supplied: Hunter)<\/p>\n
Even with multiple jobs, Hunter’s mother was outmatched by the depths of Australia’s housing inequity.<\/p>\n
Only two alternatives remained: living in their car or with Hunter’s elderly grandmother.<\/p>\n
“That scares me today, to think that was literally it,” the teenager, 16, says.<\/p>\n
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Hunter says, in his experience, Australians think helping single parents is a waste of money.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 (Supplied: Hunter)<\/p>\n
Two jobs not enough for inflated rents<\/p>\n
Hunter’s mother often went without when he was growing up.<\/p>\n
Sacrifices that paid for his private Port Macquarie schooling, or investments into his future.<\/p>\n
“Every opportunity that comes up in extracurriculars, the arts, the sports, she’s always put that first,” he says.<\/p>\n
“She won’t question it, she’ll just do it.<\/p>\n
“She really makes sure that I have what she didn’t.”<\/p>\n
Hunter’s mother also grew up in a single-parent household, living in public housing while his grandmother worked three jobs.<\/p>\n
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Hunter remembers his mum cancelling gym memberships and other things to provide him with opportunities.\u00a0 (Supplied: Hunter)<\/p>\n
The teen was very young when they started renting their former home.<\/p>\n
It was a “saving grace” after struggling with previous bouts of housing insecurity.<\/p>\n
But after they were evicted, more than a decade on, their options had only worsened.<\/p>\n
Port Macquarie’s average rent skyrocketed, with the coastal town becoming an investor’s market.<\/a><\/p>\n His mother got a part-time job in addition to full-time work, but it wasn’t enough to cover inflated rental costs.<\/p>\n “There were plenty of rentals, but they were rentals for $800 a week,” Hunter says.<\/p>\n He also believes his mother’s attempts to secure another property were hindered by single-parent bias.<\/p>\n “Even if there were rentals that we could afford \u2026 when you’ve got the perfect couple who applies, the single parent goes well down on the priority list,” he says.<\/p>\n “Even if you do have the money, you can’t get anything because there’s that instant stigma.”Busting harmful myths about single mums<\/a><\/p>\n Contrary to outdated beliefs, the majority of single mums are educated and in paid employment.<\/p>\n Jenny Davidson, chief executive at the Council of Single Mothers and their Children, says it can be “very difficult to pinpoint bias”.<\/p>\n Unaffordability, coupled with low vacancy rates, makes it easy for realtors to insist there is too much demand.<\/p>\n Still, she had heard similar stories.<\/p>\n “We have anecdotal information around biases that single mothers won’t pay the rent, or they’ll get a boyfriend that will trash the joint, or their kids will damage the property,” she says.<\/p>\n “The irony is that single mothers make great tenants because they want to get into a house, prioritise paying their rent, maintain it like a home, and stay in that area while their children are engaged in that school.”<\/p>\n Rents of $800 were way beyond what Hunter’s mum could afford. (Supplied: Hunter)<\/p>\n ‘I didn’t have anything’<\/p>\n Before losing his rental, Hunter had structure, an easy relationship with friends and a game plan for year 11.<\/p>\n That all changed overnight.<\/p>\n His belongings were packed into cardboard boxes after moving in with his grandmother.<\/p>\n His mother’s bed now lay inches away from his.<\/p>\n He felt himself grow distant from friends because he didn’t want them to know he was homeless.<\/p>\n Financial hardship resources:<\/p>\n “My mental health was out. My mum’s was as well, because then that’s when she picked up another job,” he says.<\/p>\n “There was nothing good about it.<\/p>\n “I couldn’t learn, I couldn’t excel.<\/p>\n “I couldn’t do anything with the space I was in because when you’re in that environment, you don’t have any motivation to get up.<\/p>\n “It was just a very depressing time.”<\/p>\n Hunter says he often feels the only way to be alone is to go on a walk.\u00a0 (Supplied: Hunter)<\/p>\n More single parents becoming ‘lifelong renters’<\/p>\n Single mothers are increasingly at the brunt of Australia’s housing crisis, Ms Davidson argues.<\/p>\n The group is almost four times more likely to experience homelessness <\/a>or insecure housing.<\/p>\n Ms Davidson says they are disadvantaged by multiple factors, including insufficient child support payments<\/a> or an inability to return to the property ladder.<\/a><\/p>\n The problem also begins with a lack of available social and public housing.<\/p>\n About 640,000 households need social housing but face an average waitlist of more than 10 years, according to research conducted by the UNSW City Futures Research Centre.<\/a><\/p>\n The postcodes where rent takes half your pay cheque<\/a><\/p>\n These are the nation’s worst postcodes for renters, as well as the places hit with the biggest rent hikes since the pandemic.<\/p>\n It leads to more single mothers becoming “lifelong renters” \u2014 an option in itself that is increasingly difficult to achieve.<\/p>\n “They are competing with double-income applicants for family homes,” Ms Davidson says.<\/p>\n “So, we have a burgeoning situation where, once you don’t, you’re never going to own a home, and you can’t get public housing.<\/p>\n “And if you then cannot get a rental property, families are raising children in garages, spare rooms, caravans.<\/p>\n “Or they’re roofless, and they’re living in tents and vehicles.”<\/p>\n Coastal NSW has become a particular hotspot for homelessness.\u00a0 (ABC News)<\/p>\n An ‘almost hidden crisis’<\/p>\n In Hunter’s experience, “a single-parent income affects everything”.<\/p>\n “Cost-of-living is huge for everyone, but especially a single-parent income because you’ve got one income that has to stretch over way more things.”<\/p>\n Homeless mother of seven denied social housing over Centrelink income<\/a><\/p>\n Welfare payments are Rissa Blakeley’s only source of income, but she and her kids have been left with no choice but to live in a park.<\/p>\n More than 30 per cent of single-parent families are now living below the poverty line, according to the 2025 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey.<\/p>\n One-third of children living in single-parent families are also in poverty \u2014 compared to 12 to 14 per cent for those living in dual-parent homes.<\/p>\n The study deducts housing costs, highlighting the acute role of housing costs in this crisis.<\/p>\n Relative poverty rates, taking housing costs into account.\u00a0 (Supplied: The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey)<\/p>\n The study’s co-director, Rodger Wilkins, looks at HILDA results from as far back as 2001, as well as household data from the 1980s.<\/p>\n He says there has been a trend of worsening single-parent poverty since the 1990s.<\/p>\n “It really should be considered a national priority,” Professor Wilkins says.<\/p>\n “There really is this almost hidden crisis in our community.<\/p>\n “It’s not getting adequate attention.”Support not going where needed<\/p>\n Hunter’s mother has now bought an apartment for the pair \u2014 a hard-earned respite after years of insecurity.<\/p>\n But he acknowledges how rare that possibility can be for those facing homelessness.<\/p>\n Hunter says incentives aren’t taking the most disadvantaged into consideration.\u00a0 (Supplied: Hunter)<\/p>\n “[Home buyer] Incentives are really put towards young people, which, as a young person, I love,” Hunter says.<\/p>\n “But actually, the area that needs to be focused on more is middle-aged women.<\/p>\n “Because normally, they’re the most disadvantaged.”<\/p>\n Homelessness crisis for older women in NSW<\/a><\/p>\n Advocacy groups say official Census data showing thousands of women aged over 55 is just the tip of the iceberg – estimating 240,000 are at risk of sleeping rough across the country.<\/p>\n He thinks of the families who are not as fortunate as he was.<\/p>\n “There are other kids my age who didn’t have the choice to go to someone’s house and stay,” he says.<\/p>\n “There are people I know who do pitch the tent near the beach in the bush.<\/p>\n “And most homeless \u2014 99 per cent \u2014 are people who work hard. Who have or had jobs, who had a good education, who try hard.<\/p>\n “They just don’t have the support.”<\/p>\n For single mothers, he believes that is especially the case.<\/p>\n “There’s not a lot of support, there’s not a lot of talk,” Hunter says.<\/p>\n “Because it’s a subject that’s easy not to worry about if it doesn’t affect you.”<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/51be1b743a872df7d797589c67b8932f.jpeg\")
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