Rental crisis leaves Perth mum no choice but to couch surf with 8yo daughter

“I'm terrified for the future. It feels like a massive fight for survival, and everyone's feeling it,” says single mum Amee. 

When Amee moved back to Australia with her eight-year-old daughter after five months overseas, she hoped the cost of living pressures had eased. 

But when she returned to her home in Perth, she found the rental had skyrocketed beyond expectations. 

Now, the single mum-of-one has no choice but to couch surf until she can find a stable place for them to live. 

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Perth mum Amee is currently couch-surfing until she can find a stable place to live with her 8yo daughter. Source: amee_triscari/Instagram

“My daughter feels so unsettled and unstable”

“Since I left in December, for example, the apartment I was in was $520 a week, then they were jacking it up to $570, but now it's $750,” she told Yahoo News.  “It’s just impossible.”

Currently, she's renting a room at her friend's house until she can find a place to settle, staying with her daughter in the son’s room while he sleeps in his mum’s room.

“My daughter feels so unsettled and unstable,” she said. “I just want my own space.” 

Soon, she and her daughter will move to another friend’s house, where she will stay for a while before finding another place to stay, then another.

It’s an endless loop, and she fears there’s no end in sight. 

“I'm terrified for the future. I'm really anxious about it, I cry a lot,” she said. “At the moment, it feels like a massive fight for survival, and everyone's feeling it.” 

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The mum-of-one is left feeling "deflated" by the cost of living crisis. Source: amee_triscari/Instagram

Mum “deflated” by cost of living crisis

It’s not just a place to live that worries Amee; uncertainty also surrounds her daughter’s education. As they have no stable living situation, finding something permanent is difficult.  

Finding $80 to cover weekly petrol in her car and the ever-increasing prices of groceries is also an endless struggle. 

“When you operate from a place of feeling stressed and strung out, you can't see solutions,” she told Yahoo News. “I'm so deflated.” 

Looking forward, her focus is to remain positive.

She recently launched her own business, which she hopes will “boost her income.”

But Amee believes “more needs to be done” about the lack of sympathy towards those who are financially struggling.

“I find the mentality in Australia is 'Suck up and get on with it, stop complaining',” she said. 

Originally published as Rental crisis leaves Perth mum no choice but to couch surf with 8yo daughter