How the housing crisis is traumatising our children

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The current housing crisis is hurting many of our children and ruining their childhoods.

One of the main arguments for tackling housing affordability is the interest of future generations in being able to buy a home. But children have an even more pressing interest relating to housing: the interest in secure and affordable housing in childhood.

The current housing crisis is denying many young Australians the goods of childhood.Credit: Louise Kennerley

Those who don’t have access to secure and affordable housing cannot reliably access many of the goods of childhood: education, carefreeness, friendship, playing, and quality time with family members.

Children growing up in the exploitative Australian rental market often experience the stress that comes with not knowing where they will be living in the near future, and whether they would be able to attend the same school for the entirety of their childhood. Many of these kids would be constantly walking on eggshells inside their rentals for fear of causing any damage which would put their parents at risk of losing their bond, or worse, having a rental application denied in the future.

Even children of those who own their homes might be missing out. Some children barely spend time with their parents because their long hours of work to pay the mortgage, combined with a long commute to access more affordable housing, leaves very little time and energy for family life. Others can barely enjoy family activities and education opportunities because their parents can no longer afford them due to rising interest rates.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at his childhood home in Camperdown.Credit: Louise Douvis

Meanwhile, 62,316 Australian children were receiving specialist homelessness assistance according to the 2022 census update. This a national shame.

Homeless children don’t only lack a secure roof over their head. They lack a place to play and invite their friends over, are not well positioned to receive an adequate education, and would no doubt miss out on quality time with parents who would often be feeling too demoralised or stressed to provide their children with the conditions for a carefree childhood.

I suspect that many children will be so traumatised by the housing crisis that when they grow up and become a big and powerful voting bloc, they might choose to completely overrun the system.

Indeed, well-off Australians who look at housing as an investment as opposed to a basic human right should be wary of putting their eggs in a system that will one day require radical change.

But leaving self-interest aside, those who enjoyed secure housing in childhood and can provide that for their own children should be mobilising politically to provide the same conditions for all Australian children.

Anyone who enjoyed secure and affordable housing in childhood knows the difference it makes to have a home as a child. Perhaps trying to imagine one’s childhood without that sense of security might make it more salient.

The same applies for those who have parented or are currently parenting without having to stress about housing. Perhaps trying to imagine how much harder parenting would be without a home might make more salient what is at stake for less privileged Australian families.

Indeed, using one’s personal experiences and imagination to sympathise with those who are bearing the brunt of the current housing crisis might help us make personal and political decisions that allow all Australian children to flourish.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who famously grew up in a housing commission unit in Sydney, is well aware of the difference that secure housing can make in a child’s life. As he says: “We never thought about how little we had, we thought about how much we could achieve.”

It is wonderful to see him expand the single parent payment in Tuesday’s budget to support more struggling Australian families with the cost of living, but without a serious focus on housing, that support will not translate into thousands more Australian children dreaming big as he once did.

Instead of only thinking about what is good for them in the future, let’s also think about what is good for them right now. And the answer to that is simple: the adoption of policies that will shift our attitude to housing as an investment to housing as a fundamental human right.

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