Rental-Insights-A-COVID-19-Collection - Flipbook - Page 24
23
RENTAL INSIGHTS:
ISOLATION AND
MENTAL HEALTH
ISOLATION AND MENTAL HEALTH
Rebecca Bentley
The University of Melbourne
Lockdown and mental
health: who has been
most
XXX affected?
XXX
Key findings
Why is it important?
More than half of
respondents (52%) report
that their mental health
has decreased during
COVID-19 lockdown and
more than 10 per cent
report that this impact
has been of a significant
nature. Importantly, this
has not been the same
for all renters.
Renters are especially vulnerable to
the effects of the economic shutdown
in response to COVID-19 for several
reasons. First, many renters are in group
houses reducing their control over social
isolation and making them vulnerable to
the financial consequences of changing
household composition as job losses
and underemployment cause upheaval
in many people’s lives. Second, even
before the pandemic hit, there was
concern for the affordability, security
and the poor condition of many
rental dwellings.
The lockdown has most acutely
affected the mental health of women
and younger people, people working
from home, people indicating they will
require financial assistance in the next
year, people who live in poor conditions,
insecure or unaffordable dwellings, and
Victorians (where there has been the
longest period of lockdown).
Finally, renters (on average) are more
likely to be precariously employed
and therefore more exposed to the
economic shocks that have resulted
from government responses to
COVID-19.
Who is most affected?
The Australian Rental Housing
Conditions Survey reveals a pattern
of impact on mental health based on
socio-demographic characteristics,
employment characteristics, housing
characteristics and where people live.
Women reported the greatest negative
mental health effects since March 2020
as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns.
People who indicated they were likely
to require financial assistance in the
next 12 months, that their housing costs
were unaffordable or that they had
moved frequently in the past five years
reported the greatest negative impact
of COVID-19 on their mental health.
Notably, people requesting financial
assistance had five times the odds of
reporting their mental health to have
been significantly diminished.
Housing conditions also had an
important association with mental
health. People who reported that their
housing was in poor condition or cold
were more likely to report a significant
decrease in their mental health resulting
from COVID-19 lockdowns.
Finally, and perhaps expectedly,
renters residing in Victoria reported
the greatest mental health affects
compared with residents of other states
and territories. This is unsurprising
given the prolonged period of lockdown
and difficult economic conditions that
have ensued. Added to this, Victorians
have done the most home schooling
and remote working.
Women reported the greatest negative mental health effects
since March 2020 as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns.
