Teachers, nurses and childcare workers face more than a decade of saving to buy a home on their own, analysis shows.
It would take 12 years for a primary school teacher and 11 for a registered nurse to save a deposit for the average-priced Australian home, Parliamentary Library modelling commissioned by the Greens shows.
It would take a solo childcare worker, typically earning $61,300 a year, a whopping 31 years to save for a deposit.
Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather said it was impossible for single parents working in the 10 most common professions to buy a home and secure financial independence.
"I don't think we should have to live in a country where a single mum who happens to be a teacher can't afford to buy a house or has to end up saving over a decade to get a 20 per cent deposit," Mr Chandler-Mather told reporters on Tuesday.
Max Chandler-Mather says financial independence is getting beyond many people. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
Individuals paying off a mortgage in the 10 most common occupations were also likely to find themselves in housing stress - paying more than 30 per cent of their income on repayments - based on long-term wage and house price growth trends.
Housing affordability remains a fractious political issue, with Labor struggling to legislate its help-to-buy home equity scheme and build-to-rent tax concessions because of opposition from the Coalition and Greens.
Both parties want different policy solutions - rent controls and more social housing are favoured by the Greens, while the opposition wants to boost home ownership by allowing buyers to dip into their super.
Phasing out negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount is on the Greens' wishlist and was recommended in Tuesday's Blueprint Institute report.
Gradually unwinding the "overly generous" tax concessions granted to property owners will "discourage speculative investment in housing", the think tank said.
Labor said it would make no changes to negative gearing, in the lead up to the last federal election.
Improved pathways to import building professions, more modular construction and planning reform were also suggested by Blueprint Institute in Tuesday's report.