Western Sydney resident Felicita Soriano is on the age pension, but amid the soaring cost of living it's barely enough to make ends meet.
"It's hand to mouth, so when I receive it I have to divide the money," she said.
"Prices have increased, all the vegetables and fruits … I have to wait until they go on sale."
The 74-year-old rents a granny flat with a housemate in Doonside and has a casual retail job.
She has moved five times since 2017 and would like to settle down in a permanent home.
Ms Soriano said she has been on the public housing wait list for two years.
"They told me that I have to wait for 10 years [on the wait list]," she said.
"They should not [make] seniors wait long for [public] housing.
"Even if they approve it after five years, I don't know if I'll still be alive."
Ms Soriano is one of many struggling to get by, with new research commissioned by the NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS) showing 1 million people in NSW are living below the poverty line.
The preliminary findings from the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) drew on 2021 census data.
It revealed another 100,000 people slipped into poverty since 2016 — and over half of them were aged over 65.
"We know increased cost of living pressures and relentless rate and rental hikes over the past 18 months have compounded these issues — so the reality is likely far worse today," NCOSS CEO Joanna Quilty said.
Geographic divides widening
The report also found inequality between Sydney suburbs is deepening, Ms Quilty said.
"We're seeing suburbs in Western Sydney that already had high rates of disadvantage going backwards," she said.
"Meanwhile, suburbs closer to the coast, they're sitting comfortably … and poverty rates have reduced.
"We are seeing that divide growing, we're seeing widening social inequality."
The highest poverty rates were recorded in the south-western Sydney suburbs of Ashcroft, Busby and Miller, where nearly a third of the population were doing it tough.
Greenwich and Riverview on Sydney's Lower North Shore recorded the city's lowest poverty rate of 3.67 per cent.
The highest rates of children in poverty were also in Sydney's west, including 41 per cent in South Granville and 38 per cent in Auburn.
More than 40 per cent of people in poverty are renters, with around half of tenants in the Western Sydney suburbs of Regents Park, Guildford and South Granville doing it tough.
Ms Quilty said more investment in social housing was needed to bridge the divide.
"Social housing is completely out of reach for so many people … the amount of social housing stock has gone backwards," she said.
"The stock available needs to keep pace with population growth, demand and with this rising rate of poverty."
There are more than 57,000 individuals and families on the social housing waitlist in NSW and over 18,000 of them are in Western Sydney, according to the Community Housing Industry Association NSW.
The NSW government pledged that 30 per cent of homes built on surplus public land will be set aside for social and affordable housing.
"Housing is a key priority for the new NSW government — social housing can be a key way to address poverty, giving people in need a stable platform to continue their lives," a NSW government spokesperson said.
Centre for Western Sydney manager Tom Nance said there needed to be "targeted investment in people", not just infrastructure in Western Sydney.
"It's about investing in programs that break the cycle when we're talking about a lack of educational attainment and unemployment," he said.
"We also really need to look at targeted support around cost of living.
"If we don't address the issues that are around the kitchen table, such as rising electricity prices, rental and mortgage prices, we're not going to see that gap decrease."
