We asked Canberra women about their lives. For many, the outlook was bleak

Forced to move due to rent increase.

DV escalated during COVID-19 and I had to leave my house.

I couldn't land a job despite more than 18 interviews.

Any savings are gone, and I've sold all my valuables.

Reading these statements, it may be hard to believe that these are the words of women living in Canberra. But they are some of the responses to YWCA Canberra's survey of 1200 women and non-binary people, Our lives: Women in the ACT.

The data we collected paints a bleak and compelling picture of how gender and economic inequality are defining the lives of many, and how assumed safeguards against personal financial crisis such as having modest incomes, a good education, some personal savings, affordable housing and access to an adequate safety net are no longer doing the job.

When we launched Our lives in 2019, we had some idea that the picture presented to us would provide an insight into the impact of gender inequality in our city. But we had no idea what the coming 12 to 18 months would hold, and how the COVID-19 pandemic would destroy what little buffer many women were relying on to keep afloat, consigning even more to housing stress and income insecurity.

Now YWCA Canberra has released the results of the second Our lives survey, which collected responses from June to October this year, and once again asked respondents to share their experiences of work, housing security, safety, and mental health.

The responses we received have shown yet again that the typical impression we have of Canberra as an affluent city, where the majority of people live with economic security and privilege, is one that applies to an ever-diminishing number of people. In fact, more and more people are being shifted over the line to the growing cohort of Canberrans who are living in severe housing stress; despite being in paid work, those on lower incomes are increasingly vulnerable to homelessness.

These are people who do not fit the stereotype typically applied to the most vulnerable members of the community. Rather, they reflect a growing cohort of working women experiencing financial crisis and poverty. Here are some of the key findings of the survey, to give you a sense of the picture it has painted:

What this tells us is that there is a very thin margin of vulnerability for many women in Canberra, who are just one crisis or unexpected expense away from being in dire circumstances. The way we view what security looks like needs to shift drastically.

If asked to describe someone teetering on the brink of homelessness, many of us would think of someone who is unemployed, perhaps dealing with addiction or mental health challenges, who exists on the fringes of society.

Would we consider the women in low-paid, feminised industries - who may have run down their savings as work dried up at the beginning of the pandemic and who didn't qualify for federal COVID-19 relief payments - as being in crisis? What about the older women who are rebuilding their lives after enduring domestic violence, only to find themselves having to pay 50 per cent of their modest single income on rent? Or the young person trying to find employment in a labour market that is still to fully recover from the pandemic, whose short work history means they have limited savings to draw upon as a buffer in the interim?

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Patently unaffordable housing, a diminished capacity to put aside savings, and a return to austere and deliberately cruel welfare policies has meant the fallout from COVID-19 has effectively broken what these buffers were just barely holding together.

The message from Our lives is one that has the potential to reframe who we categorise as disadvantaged in Canberra. We expect women, particularly single women, to comprise a strong proportion of this growing population of working poor, and we urge all policymakers, legislators, and advocates to refer to the Our Lives findings as they look to build a Canberra that is more inclusive, affordable, and safe in the future.

Just as those who have decision-making powers need to do their part, so can all Canberrans reflect on the increasing vulnerability of so many among us to insecurities and stress we've uncovered through the survey. I hear time and again from the women we work with at YWCA Canberra that they never expected to find themselves in the circumstances of housing insecurity and homelessness that they are experiencing; it's a reminder that a whole-of-community response is needed when it comes to supporting those who are most vulnerable amongst us.

As we are now starkly aware, by living through the pandemic, none of us is immune to a sudden and devastating change to our lives, and we may all need the help and support of our communities in the future.