More women turn to Vinnies for help

Sydney
15 December 2002

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More women turn to Vinnies for help

By Chris Lindsay

The gap between women and men caught in the cycle of poverty – a phenomenon commonly referred to as “the feminisation of poverty” – continues to widen, bringing extra problems for the support services of the St Vincent de Paul Society.

Many of the factors that bring people into contact with the Society’s services are amplified in the case of women.

And more and more women in dire need of assistance, some with dependent children, are turning to those services.

Social trends since the 1960s may have led to women becoming equal to men in many of the roles they play in the workforce and public life, but the number of women in poverty is increasing.

When family break-up occurs, women are often left with children to support.

Many are unable to work because of dependent children and no childcare back-up, or they have been out of the workforce and employment possibilities are limited.

Vinnies, which helps everyone it can, is also seeing an increase in demand on its services for new groups of homeless women: asylum seekers, refugees on temporary protection visas, single women, and drug and alcohol affected women for whom there are simply no services available.

Additional problems that may contribute to homelessness include psychiatricdisability or personality disorders, poor physical health, intellectual and physical disabilities and family conflict.

Homeless single women also have limited socialnetworks.

The St Vincent de Paul Society operates a number of homeless women’s refuges, providing 267 beds a night to women and children.

It also operates homeless family services (263 beds) in rural NSW, the ACT and the Sydney area.

The Society has other programs aimed at breaking the homelessness cycle for women.