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Three reasons the government promotes home ownership for older Australians
Government strategies to manage population ageing largely assume that older Australians are home owners. There is often an implied association between home ownership and ageing well: that is, older Australians who own homes are seen as having made the right choices and as being less of a budget burden.
The problem with this approach is that not everyone is or can be a home owner.
2017
Themes:
Being Homeless and Becoming Housed: The Interplay of Fateful Moments and Social Support in Neo-liberal Context
This paper presents a qualitative analysis of stories of adults who
transitioned from being absolutely homeless to becoming housed. Participants’ stories are particularly salient for what they reveal about this transition in the midst of other challenges including substance use, criminalization, and violence, and within a neoliberal social policy context.
2017
The Dementia Village: Between Community and Society
Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Germany’s first Dementia Village, this paper shows how the creation of a Dementia Village—created as a communal space for its residents that is governed by societal standards of care—ties into long-standing traditions in social thought and speaks to the tension of combining sociality with rationalised bureaucratic efficiency.
The paper begins with an introductio
2017
Themes:
Sustainable Homes for the Elderly
In the UK, ten million people were over sixty-five years old in 2010, and this is projected to increase to nineteen million by 2020. Over two million households are considered to be in fuel poverty and living in unsatisfactory conditions, and many of those people struggling to afford their energy bills are elderly.
2017
Pathways to homelessness among older people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil’s rapid development has led to profound social and economic stresses. It is one of the world’s most unequal countries; the poorest 20% share just 2% of the nation’s income. A third of the population lives in extreme poverty, unemployment is high and a quarter of all jobs are in the informal sector.
2017
Growing old better by growing old amongst friends: the rise of third age cooperatives
This article looks at the co-housing option for the elderly in Spain. The case study is the dream of a group of people who one day decided they neither wanted to be shut away in an old people’s home nor to depend on their children. Given the lack of options, they came up with their own solution: to grow old among friends.
2017
The downsizing cost traps awaiting Australian retirees – here are five reasons to be wary
This article debunks the myth of zero housing costs in retirement.
The concept of zero housing costs in retirement is based on a 1940s view of a well-maintained, single dwelling on a single allotment of land where the mortgage has been paid off.
2017
Themes:
Cohousing for Seniors
Housing the ageing population of NSW in homes that are affordable, accessible and stable presents a major challenge for the state, particularly in a time of rising housing costs. New models are needed to address social isolation, tenure insecurity, care costs and seniors’ aspirations to age in place.
Cohousing may be one such model.
2017
Themes:
The Future of Renting Among Older Adults
Since 2005, the number of US renter households aged 50+ has increased dramatically, jumping from 10 to nearly 15 million, and accounting for more than half of all renter growth over the past decade. The baby boom cohort, now aged 50-69, is responsible for most of the increase in older renters. This cohort will continue to drive up the number of renters in their 70s and beyond.
2017
Themes:
How a Group of Female Seniors Decided to Forgo a Retirement Home for a Co-Living Space
An article about the Toronto project of senior co-housing for older women based on the French La Maison des babayagas, or The Babayagas' House.
2017
Themes:
"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort."