Youth housing in Australia

An evidence review of its impact on young peoples’ employment and education outcomes, and the economic case for investment.

If you don’t know where you are sleeping at night, it can’t be easy to hold down a job and finish your education.

This report investigates the economic productivity case for investing in youth housing. It shows that longer-term youth housing provides the stability needed for young people to succeed, doubling employment rates and boosting education engagement.

Crucially, the evidence review shows that dedicated youth housing models deliver transformational outcomes. For young people accessing youth tenancies with appropriate supports:

• Housing stability increased from 27% to over 70%
• Educational engagement rose from 28% to as high as 77%
• Employment participation increased from 26% to as high as 70%

Prepared by SVA Consulting for Melbourne City Mission, the report brings together – for the first time – all available evaluations of longer-term youth housing models that combine stable accomodation with wrap-around support. It focuses strictly on employment, education and housing outcomes due to their direct link to productivity. It also explores the economic case for investment. It outlines that the status quo is expensive, creating significant avoidable costs for government, and that investment could avoid these costs and deliver high returns for government and the community.