CULT1017UnderstandingSocietyAutumn2024 Assessment Three: Case Study

CaseStudy: Australias housingcrisis,socialinequality,andsocialchange

Australiashousingcrisishas deepened in the lastcoupleofyears with inflation,interestrate rises, and rental hikes.According to recent data, 75 per cent of people are scared about their financial security because of the housing crisis (Azize 2023).Younger people, older women, and low-income earners are among the most impacted by housing unaffordability, highlightinggenerational, gendered and classdivisions.It is estimated that only 28 per cent of young Australians on low or modest incomes own their own home, compared with 60 per cent40 yearsago (Coates2022).Meanwhile,olderwomen are lesslikelythan oldermen to live in private dwellings and more likely to live in public or social housing due to the cumulative effects of domestic violence, caregiving, and the gender pay gap over the life course (AIHW 2023).These inequalities have been exacerbated in the context of the housing crisis, resulting in rising homelessness among older women who constitute one of the fastest growing groups of homeless people nationally (McVeigh 2023).

To address the issue of increasing housing unaffordability, a raft of solutions has been proposed or introduced, including homebuyer schemes for single parents, older Australians and low-and-middle-income earners, investment in social and affordable housing, rental freezing, and cuts to negative gearing and the Capital Gains Tax concession (Coates 2024; Karp 2023).However, such solutions are limited and perhaps short-sighted, ignoring the more fundamental issue of the privatisation of land and our corresponding dependence on the economic market to service high rents and mortgage repayments (Baumann 2024).An alternative solution proposes even greater investment in social housing, thereby reducing housingstressand ourreliance onaneconomicmodel thatdemandsunsustainable levelsof growth (Baumann 2024).

Inshort,thehousingcrisisrepresentsacomplexandsignificantchallenge,highlightingissues of power, structure and inequality in society, and the potential for social change concepts that you have been learning about in Understanding Society.

With this in mind, access the following resources on the housing crisis, which form the basis of the housing crisis case study:

1. Housing affordability-AustralianInstituteofHealthandWelfare(aihw.gov.au)
2. Housing crisis worsens as extreme conditions for renters described as 'needle in ahaystack type stuff' - ABC News
3. Older womencaughtinhomelessnesscrisis(eurekastreet.com.au)
4. Older Australians,Housingandlivingarrangements-AustralianInstituteofHealthandWelfare (aihw.gov.au)
5. Help toBuyschemewillhelpbutwontsolvethehousingcrisis(crikey.com.au)
6. Greens agreetosupport Labors$10bnhousing fund, breaking months-longimpasse

|Australian politics|TheGuardian

7. Huge housingcostsmakeusslavestoourjobsandunsustainableButtheresanother way (theconversation.com)

Question:

Having considered the arguments and issues raised in the above resources, which form the basis of the case study, and drawing on at least 3 ACADEMIC SOURCES, provide a 1000- word response to the following question:

Whatdoesthehousingcrisisrevealaboutsocialstructureandinequalityin Australia and the potential for social change?

DetailedInstructions:

1. Access the case study resources and identify the key arguments and issues surrounding the housing crisis.
2. Review the sociological reading you have undertaken over the Subject to help you analyse the arguments and issues sociologically. In other words, consider how the concepts and theories discussed within your subject readings help you to make sense of what is presented in the case study resources (e.g., what are the issues/problems identified, what type of inequality/division is being discussed, what social institutions are being reflected upon, what social changes are imminent or possible).
3. When writing your response, be sure to define/explain your sociological concepts with reference to relevant subject resources. You do not have to draw on all the concepts highlighted above (and may draw on additional concepts)but should utilise thoseconcepts that are referenced in the case study questionand that are relevant to the points you want to make in your response.
4. Ensure that your arguments or response to the questionisinformedbythescholarly literature and case study materials, not simplybased on your opinion, and cite your sources!

5. Your response should be written in an essay style, meaning it should contain an introduction, body and conclusion.
6. Your response should be referenced using Harvard
7. You must use at least3 academic, sociological sources to support your discussion, which need to be cited in the body of your text and included in a reference list. For the purposesofthistask,each chapterfromthe McCormackal(2018/2021)textbookwill be considered as 1 academic source. You must also draw on the case study documents, but these need to be in addition to the 3 academic sources, and must be referenced appropriately in the body of your text and your reference list.

Lengthofsubmission:1000words(+/-10%)

Weight:35%

LearningOutcomes:

Thisassessmentrespondstounitlearningoutcomes3,4and5,whichareto:

3. Identify relevant sources and assess approaches to and claims about social processes and institutions in contemporary society.
4. Apply a sociological understanding of power, social inequality and social change to case study materials.
5. Demonstrate reading, writing and referencing skills commensurate with university