Imagine this. An eight-year old girl returns home from school to her mum. Her bag is laden with homework, the short walk is a hot and sweltering one.
Her mum – who is six months pregnant – joyously awaits the return of her daughter.
They jump into the family car.
But this is where things turn unusual. This is where the scene differs from what plays out across hundreds of thousands of homes across Australia.
Because next, the eight-year-old girl spreads the car’s windows with towels to give herself some privacy while she does her maths and spelling.
This is her home.
This mother and daughter live in a car in the suburbs of Perth and have done so since the beginning of January.
The Sunday Times reported yesterday on the 28-year-old mother and daughter who have made a 1996 Holden Commodore their home.
During the week, they park the car near a children’s playground close to the eight-year-old girl’s primary school.
The small family lost their home when their landlord sold the property they were living in.
Her mother previously worked as a healthcare professional but suffers a debilitating neurological illness that meant she couldn’t continue to work and was unable to rent another home.
She told The Sunday Times that she moved into a relative’s house after she lost hers, but had a falling out with the relative after the man she became pregnant to left her.
It’s a common tale – an unexpected pregnancy, a couple breaking up, a family falling out – but surely it shouldn’t end up with a pregnant woman and a little girl living in a major car in a major Australian city?
The Sunday Times reports that:
Top Comments
I wish Sarah Hanson Young would display the same amount of care and compassion towards the plight of homeless women as she does about the refugees on Manus Island. I always thought Welfare was meant for people who had fallen 'on hard times' no matter the reason. I worked with a married woman who was still living in Public Housing even though their combined income over the years rose to over $100,000 per annum. And yet, the woman in this story has to live in her car whilst others who could well afford private housing manage to keep their Housing Trust place because they can't be kicked out.
Quite frankly, I'm disgusted with people in general. I understand that it's not that hard for a woman with a child to land themselves in this sort of circumstance. I read the comments from the public on Perth Now on this woman's plight, and many assumed she had gotten 'knocked up' while homeless, assume she's a drug addict etc. "Can't she keep her legs closed?" some said. "She should be looking after her first kid" others reprimanded. She was a professional woman with a stable partner (the baby's dad) for many years when she had to flea for safety reasons. I know this because I have spoken to the council office and offered support, because I happen to be in her general area. The statements in the report about what housing options she has been offered are not quite the truth (according to the local council office), and she has no viable options at this point. Shit can happen to any of us, so let that be a warning to all you who point the finger and have a laugh or revel in other's dispair. If people put their brain power towards figuring out how they could help people and solve problems instead of criticising and tearing people down, the world would be a much better place.