Long-term care costs, social isolation, dementia and financial insecurity are all notable problems facing many older Americans. But perhaps their biggest challenge of all is housing.<\/p>\n
As more than two dozen experts explained at \u201cRaising the Roof: America\u2019s Housing Crisis and Our Longer Lives,\u201d the Columbia University\u00a0Age Boom Academy\u00a0program for journalists (where I served as a panel moderator and mentor), a tormenting triad has created an untenable situation.<\/p>\n
Call these problems the 3 A\u2019s: affordability, accessibility and the ability to remain in your own home.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur society is at a critical juncture in planning for an aging population while confronting one of the worst housing crises in our lifetimes,\u201d said Dr. Linda Fried, director of the Age Boom Academy and dean of the Columbia University\u00a0Mailman School of Public Health.<\/p>\n
Caitlin Hawke, Age Boom\u2019s project lead, said the 2023 version of the academy focused on housing as a determinant for health in aging. \u201cThe more we learned, the more we realized what a dearth of affordable options there are for older people to remain in their communities as they age,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the Age Boom panelists said, a few novel programs and housing communities \u2014 from nonprofits, real estate developers and the federal government \u2014 are helping address housing problems facing older Americans.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at the key housing challenges and what\u2019s being done to reduce them:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe precarious state that many older people live in could be addressed by getting a handle on the cost of housing,\u201d said gerontologist Jan Mutchler, creator of\u00a0The Elder Index\u00a0measure of what it costs older adults to stay in their homes and remain independent.<\/p>\n
Roughly one-third of people aged 50 and over pay more than 30% of their incomes for housing \u2014 making them \u201crent burdened\u201d according to the federal\u00a0Department of Housing and Urban Development\u00a0(HUD).<\/p>\n
The high cost of houses and apartments in many places is a leading reason why older adults are now the fastest growing group of homeless Americans,\u00a0according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies\u00a0at Harvard University.<\/p>\n
Elder homelessness rates haven\u2019t been this high since the Great Depression. One in three people experiencing chronic homelessness in 2020 were 55 or older, according to HUD. Chronic homelessness means living without a home for at least 12 months or having four episodes of homelessness adding up to 12 months over three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe story of homelessness is a story of affordable housing,\u201d said Mutchler.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Rose, whose Jonathan Rose Companies builds and buys affordable, green housing, noted that only 50,000 new units of affordable housing are built in the U.S. annually. They exist due to small federal subsidies Congress has authorized.<\/p>\n
\u201cAffordable housing can only be built with subsidies,\u201d said Rose. \u201cAs much as I hope that we\u2019ll develop the financial resources to solve these issues [of affordability], looking at Congress today, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be likely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Jack Rowe, a faculty member at the\u00a0Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, said at Age Boom that he\u2019s especially concerned about housing affordability for the older Americans he calls \u201cthe forgotten middle\u201d \u2014 the lower half of the middle class. They are not eligible for low-income housing and often can\u2019t afford market-rate rents or home ownership. \u201cThey\u2019re faring much less well than their predecessors 20 years ago,\u201d said Rowe.<\/p>\n
The demand by older adults for affordable housing is enormous.<\/p>\n
Wayne Ho, president and CEO of the\u00a0Chinese-American Planning Council, said that when his group opened a senior affordable housing building in New York City\u2019s Chinatown last year, it received 22,000 applications for 110 units.<\/p>\n
Two reasons affordable housing is in such short supply: builders see bigger profits by going upscale and local zoning ordinances often prohibit low-income construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem with housing is that in many communities, there really aren\u2019t affordable and reasonable downsizing options that would let people stay in their community,\u201d said Mutchler.<\/p>\n
But a small and growing number of communities \u2014 especially on the West Coast \u2014 are now allowing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) to help counter high housing costs. ADUs are typically small houses built in the backyard of existing houses, though they can be modified apartments and townhouses.<\/p>\n
At Age Boom, Rodney Harrell, vice president for family, home and community at the AARP Public Policy Institute, called ADUs the \u201cSwiss army knife of housing\u201d because they are affordable and often one-story, so residents needn\u2019t worry about climbing stairs.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0Joint Center for Housing Studies report\u00a0noted that before statewide ADU legislation passed in California in 2016, localities there issued about 1,200 ADU permits annually. In 2022, that number rose to over 24,000.<\/p>\n
The Biden administration\u2019s\u00a02022 Housing Supply Action Plan\u00a0called for more ADUs nationwide, especially for low- and moderate-income people, with pilot programs for federal ADU loans.<\/p>\n
Plus:<\/strong> 3 reasons why millions of older Americans live in poverty and aren\u2019t getting the help they need<\/p>\n Fewer than 4% of U.S. homes are fully accessible and adhere to the principles of universal design, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner Julia Gordon said at the recent\u00a0Stanford Center on Longevity 2023 Century Summit.<\/p>\n The U.S. Census Bureau says in 28% of households with an adult aged 65 and over are in houses that are difficult for older adults to use. For example they may have trouble climbing stairs, getting into the bathtub or using the kitchen.<\/p>\n As a result, even though surveys show most people want to age in place, their homes won\u2019t let them \u2014 at least not without costly renovations, if they are even possible.<\/p>\n Making homes accessible not only keeps older residents safe, it often has other benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we go into homes and do major repair work, we see measurable improvements to the health of the older adult resident,\u201d said Tawkiyah Jordan, vice president for housing and community strategy at Habitat for Humanity International, at Age Boom. \u201cWe also hear from them self-reported improvements in their sense of well-being, and a significant decrease in depression.\u201d<\/p>\n Also see: <\/strong>A new senior-housing project will tackle the \u2018middle ground\u2019 between living alone and needing a nursing home<\/p>\n Now that pandemic moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures have been lifted, experts at Age Boom said, there are growing fears of older adults being forced out of their homes by predatory landlords and lenders.<\/p>\n Roughly 200,000 renters over age 65 receive an eviction filing every year; about half of them are later evicted, Nick Graetz, a research associate at\u00a0The Eviction Lab\u00a0at Princeton University, said at Age Boom.<\/p>\n One especially pernicious problem pushing older people out of their homes is known as \u201ca tangled title.\u201d That is when someone loses ownership or cannot transfer the home to the next generation because they lack the proper title to it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Pew Charitable Trusts did an interesting\u00a0study\u00a0out of Philadelphia that noted there\u2019s $1.1 billion of wealth at stake to be lost due to tangled title issues, the majority of which is\u00a0Black wealth,\u201d Lily Hoffman, Habitat for Humanity International associate director of programs, said at Age Boom.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Economic Hardship Reporting Project\u2018s new book of essays about financial precarity, \u201cGoing for Broke: Living on the Edge in the World\u2019s Richest Country,\u201d has a sad story about a woman whose tangled title caused her to lose her Detroit home.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople often assume it\u2019s young people who are struggling to make ends meet,\u201d said Alissa Quart, the project\u2019s executive director and book\u2019s co-editor. \u201cIt turns out, a lot of our grant recipients experiencing financial hardship are older.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong>\u2018A terrific value for the rent dollar\u2019: For retirees and empty nesters, these trendy housing options offer many benefits<\/p>\n Age Boom panelists described six novel ways affordable or accessible housing is being created around the nation:<\/p>\n Bridge Meadows:<\/strong>\u00a0Oregon\u2019s three\u00a0Bridge Meadows\u00a0multigenerational, affordable housing developments feature universal design and on-site mental health specialists. They\u2019re comprised of apartments with low-income renters who are 55+ and townhouses for families adopting or fostering youth. \u201cYou might not recognize that it\u2019s affordable housing,\u201d said Derenda Schubert, the nonprofit\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n CAPABLE:<\/strong>\u00a0This Johns Hopkins School of Nursing program (full name:\u00a0Community Aging in Place-Advancing Better Living for Elders) brings together an occupational therapist, a registered nurse and a handy worker to make a low-income older adult\u2019s home safer and keep them healthier. It has also reduced their need for hospitalization and nursing home stays. CAPABLE is now in 23 states.<\/p>\n Colma Veterans Village<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/strong>Working with the Veterans Administration and low-income housing developer Mercy Housing,\u00a0<\/strong>geriatrician Dr. Anne Fabiny created this apartment complex in Colma, California, with health care for chronically homeless, frail and medically or psychosocially complex older veterans. Residents \u2014 primarily Vietnam vets \u2014 pay no more than 30% of their income for housing. The 65-unit complex has primary and mental health care teams on site as well as occupational and recreational therapy. The Veterans Administration is extending the Colma model nationwide.<\/p>\n Habitat for Humanity:\u00a0<\/strong>Although this nonprofit is best known for building houses, it also repairs and restores them to help inhabitants age in place. Through rezoning, Habitat for Humanity is rebuilding some older adults\u2019 homes in\u00a0Tacoma, Washington. to create a multigenerational, affordable housing development with shared living spaces.<\/p>\n Section 202 Housing:<\/strong>\u00a0HUD\u2019s Supportive Housing for the Elderly program, which is based on\u00a0Section 202\u00a0of the\u00a0Housing Act of 1959, provides loans to build, buy or rehab apartments for people aged 62 or older earning less than 50% of the area median income. Its rent subsidies help make the apartments affordable. \u201cSection 202 was dormant for several years and then revived,\u201d Linda Couch, vice president, housing and aging services policy at the LeadingAge nonprofit, said at Age Boom. \u201cIt\u2019s HUD\u2019s flagship older-adult housing program and brings consistent, stable affordability to tenants.\u201d<\/p>\nAccessibility<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Ability to remain in your own home<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What works to fix these concerns<\/strong><\/h2>\n