What many of us suspected and lived has now been confirmed and validated by research commissioned by Housing for the Aged Action Group (HAAG) and undertaken by Swinburne University in Victoria. “More than half a million older people living in Australia are in the Missing Middle Approximately 508,000 people aged 55 or older were at risk of ‘non-supported housing precarity’ in 2019-20, 1, 2 a group referred to as the Missing Middle. https://www.oldertenants.org.au/publications/not-poor-enough-not-rich-enough-new-research-highlights-older-australians-falling
These people are neither poor enough to qualify for housing assistance nor wealthy enough to secure housing as they age, highlighting a significant gap in Australia’s housing system.
Private renters face greater financial vulnerability. Among the missing middle, 60% live in private rental homes, and a majority (78%) of these renters are in the very low or low-wealth category. The majority of the Missing Middle with very low to low wealth are in the lowest two household income brackets: 43 % in Quintile 1 and 45% in Quintile 2 (45%). A large proportion of this group receive Commonwealth Rent Assistance. Additionally, 61% of this group lacks superannuation coverage.