The harsh truth in Australia is that women could not get any kind of loan for much of our short history as colonial invaders of this wide brown land. It was another very effective way of controlling women by excluding them from being able to borrow money for things like homes and cars. Men ran the banks, they sat on the boards and managed the branches, and it was policy to deny loans to women on the basis that they were women and not men. Women were paid far less, got pregnant and had children, most didn’t own property and couldn’t because nobody would lend them the finance to do so; and they didn’t play golf. Women and home loans in Australia: a potted reality, well, a root bound bonsai really.
60% of Women Are Living in Homes They Own
The irony is that women are, generally, far better managers of finances, especially around the home, as they must feed the family and make do with what they have. Women are better conservers and savers of limited assets. Since women have been empowered in the financial sense over the last couple of decades the percentage of women owning homes in Australia has dramatically increased. 26.2% of property in OZ is exclusively owned by women versus 29.9% by men, according to a survey by CoreLogic in 2021. 60% of women live in homes they own jointly or on their own, according to Westpac.
Home Ownership in Australia
Of course, home ownership in Australia, in the capital cities, is becoming less and less affordable for the average citizen. A low rate credit card can proffer big savings over time. Australia has become a nation where little is manufactured, and the economy is stimulated by the exchange of property at inflated prices. Landlords grow rich and commercial rents push up retail prices across the board for products and services. Australia is fast becoming a land of the have’s and the have nots. The ever expanding chasm between these two groups continues to cause untold problems, as we have seen during the Covid pandemic.
Women & Men Equally at Home in an Unfair Society
Will women improve the state of fairness within our society via their property rights or just repeat the same trends exhibited by men over the last several decades? In many ways, women wanted access to the same slice of pie as their male counterparts. They wanted to be like men and that is what we are seeing in the property market, workplaces, and in the community. The old adage is, be careful what you wish for.