Precarious Lives

It is becoming increasingly evident that many LGBTQ+ people face financial and material problems in later life. Despite this, there has been little research to date as to why these problems are so prevalent.

On 25th February this year Tonic Housing has published a major study, entitled Precarious Lives, that explores financial and material hardship among LGBTQ+ people in London aged 50 and above. There are four themes in our research:

Discrimination – We look at the long-term impact of discrimination on the financial wellbeing of older LGBTQ+ people, and at the intersectional nature of this problem.

Social isolation – We explore the high levels of social isolation, and the low expectations of institutional support, among older LGBTQ+ people, and how these affect financial wellbeing.

Long-term health conditions – We look at the high levels of disability among older LGBTQ+ people, how disability can increase social isolation, and how both impact financial health.

Financial stress – We show how living in London is a mixed blessing for older LGBTQ+ people, exploring factors such as the precarity of life in the private rental sector.

LAUNCH / WEBINAR

Precarious Lives was launched with a webinar.

The webinar was chaired by Baroness Barker (House of Lords). It included short presentations by:

 
 

CREDITS

The first phase of Precarious Lives was organised by the charity Opening Doors, which sadly closed in February 2024, after which Tonic took on this important project. We would like to thank all of the older LGBTQ+ people who answered the survey and took part in the focus groups and interviews, as well as the panel of specialists in our Advisory Group. Precarious Lives has been funded by Trust for London.