Abstract

International students have emerged as a major cohort within Australia’s post-secondary education sector. Despite contributing substantially to the economy and community, they are expected to make their own way in Australia’s expensive private rental market. Drawing on two surveys—one conducted prior to Covid-19 and one fielded during the pandemic—as well as forty semi-structured in-depth interviews, the article examines strategies adopted by students to cope with high rents in Sydney and Melbourne. Drawing on the concept of risk, we argue that international students studying in these two cities must constantly manage the pressures of expensive and unstable rental housing. Access to decent accommodation often depends on finding and maintaining paid employment. Second, students adopt risky strategies to meet housing costs such as sharing bedrooms. These strategies reduce rents but invoke further challenges. Third, we find that due to the loss of paid employment, the Covid-19 pandemic has substantially increased the risks for international students dependent on the private rental sector.

摘要

国际学生已成为澳大利亚专上教育领域的一个主要群体。尽管为经济和社区做出了巨大贡献，但他们仍有望在澳大利亚昂贵的私人租赁市场上闯出自己的一片天。本文借鉴两项调查（一项是在 Covid-19 之前进行的，一项是在大流行期间进行的）以及四十次半结构化深度访谈，探讨了学生为应对悉尼和墨尔本高租金而采取的策略。借鉴风险的概念，我们认为在这两个城市学习的国际学生必须不断应对昂贵且不稳定的出租房的压力。获得体面的住宿往往取决于找到并维持有偿就业。其次，学生采取冒险策略来支付住房费用，例如共用卧室。这些策略降低了租金，但引发了进一步的挑战。第三，我们发现，由于有偿就业的丧失，Covid-19大流行大大增加了依赖私人租赁行业的国际学生的风险。