Older women, housing precarity and climate change: Democracy, relationality and rights

Older women constitute one of the fastest-growing cohorts experiencing housing precarity in Australia. Housing insecurity for older women is tied to the systematic undervaluation of caring labour across the life course. This housing precarity is often worsened by the uneven impacts of climate change. This article posits that the right to housing is foundational to democratic participation, as precarious housing conditions undermine the practical ability to engage in civic life, including voting. The work concludes that community-embedded, life-course research centred on older women’s lived expertise is essential to inform legal, policy and social reform capable of addressing this multi-faceted crisis.