It is under great sufferance, but Clare Schilling is almost a vegetarian.

"It wouldn't take much to be one on our diet," she said.

"There's not much meat in it. There's not much of anything in it actually.

"You don't want your kids to live on pasta and sauce and that's basically what they live on."

After paying rent on a home in North Bendigo with her Newstart allowance, the 51-year-old said there wasn't a lot of money left for food.

And that is after she splits the bill with her daughter.

"The only reason that we can pay the rent is because [of] my daughter who's 18 and is on youth allowance. So essentially we pay half the rent each," she said.

For the weeks where their budget doesn't cover things like food, she relies on the services of organisations like Anglicare Victoria.

About six months ago, in an effort to escape the private rental market, Ms Schilling also signed up for public housing.

She's now one of 82,000 people on the waiting list, which is growing by about 500 names every month.

It is a disheartening reality for the single mother, who has not worked in about two years.

"They've got no idea when you might get to the top of the list," Ms Schilling said.

Size of waiting list a 'wake-up call'

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry has found about 25,000 of the names on the waiting list belong to children.

It is the first time the sheer number of people who want public housing has been quantified, according to the Victorian Council of Social Service.

Its chief executive, Emma King, said that until now, only the number of applications was known.

She said it was a wake-up call.

"We really can't wait. We need to see new properties being built and being built today," she said.

She is calling for developers to be compelled to include social housing in new developments.

"Being required to build social housing amongst new developments would make a significant difference," Ms King said.

"If you look around all of the cranes that are all around Melbourne … the reality is there's lots of construction taking place.

"If a percentage of those properties are put aside for community housing or a form of public housing … that would make an enormous difference."

VCOSS chief executive Emma King says developers should be required to include social housing in new projects. ( Supplied: VCOSS )

Major parties at odds over housing policy

Victoria's Housing Minister, Martin Foley, has used the parliamentary inquiry's report to put pressure on the Opposition and the Greens to support Labor's Public Housing Renewal Program.

Under the plan, developers would rebuild public housing at eight major sites across Melbourne, but would also get a large slice of the land to build private apartments.

"These estates, which frankly are unfit for 21st century habitation in many respects, need to be replaced," Mr Foley said.

"If the Liberals and the Greens vote to knock off this again … they condemn another generation of Victorians to housing poverty."

In the meantime, Ms Schilling is surviving week to week.

She isn't letting herself become hopeful.

"I put my name on the list but I don't expect it to turn up."