Report: As the U.S. population of older adults surges, the nation’s housing and health care isn’t sufficient

With the population of older adults over surging, a report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies finds the nation’s housing stock isn’t adequate and its health care system is unprepared.

“The U.S. population 65 and over soared by 34 percent in the last decade, from 43 million in 2012 to 58 million in 2022,” reads a brief about the report, “Housing America’s Older Adults 2023.” “In the coming decade, the fastest growth will occur among those over 80, when people are more likely to need accessible housing as well as services and supports at home. The U.S., however, is not ready to provide housing and care for this surging population.”

Older adults can’t afford the duel expenses of housing and health care services, and government assistance isn’t adequate to meet the growing needs. Notably, the majority of older adults still live at home. As of 2021, 97.5 percent of older adults lived either in their own home or that of someone else, such as an adult child. Only 2.5 percent resided in nursing homes.

Many are tapping into their real estate equity to make ends meet. That’s not an option for everyone, though. Between 1989 and 2022, the statement says, the share of homeowners 65 to 79 with a mortgage increased from 24 to 41 percent and the median mortgage debt shot up over 400 percent, from $21,000 in 1989 to $110,000. Over 30 percent of homeowners age 80 and over are also carrying mortgages, up from just three percent three decades ago. 

Homeowners and renters of color face particularly difficult financial challenges.

“This is not only because of the increasing number of older adults, but because of widening wealth and income inequality,” says Jennifer Molinsky, project director of the Housing an Aging Society Program at the Harvard housing studies center. Older renters have only 2 percent of the net wealth of older homeowners; older Black homeowners have the lowest housing equity at $123,000, compared to $251,000 for older white homeowners, $200,000 for older Hispanic owners, and $270,000 for those who are Asian, multiracial, or another race. 

Compounding the monetary challenges, climate change is bringing monetary and health risks to regions where older adults live. Severe storms in Florida, which is home to 8.3 percent of the nation’s older population, caused $228 billion in property damage from 2020 through 2023.

And looking ahead, the outlook isn’t projected to improve any time soon. 

“With subsidies for housing and LTC services scarce, many older adults will have to forgo needed care or rely on family and friends for assistance,” said Molinsky in the sstatement. Along with funding, the report highlights a need for creative alternatives to existing models of care and housing to better support the country’s rapidly aging population—especially given that the number of older adults who are cost burdened and spend more than 30 percent of their total income on housing is expected to rise in coming years.

Increasingly, the burden of providing health care and housing is falling on family members. In 2020, the report notes that about 42 million people provide unpaid care to someone older than 50. And without free long-term care options, family members or the individual must pay for the services themselves—at a steep cost.

“This support comes at massive economic cost to caregivers. AARP estimates that $600 billion of unpaid care was provided in 2021,” the report says. “Partners who provide this support often put their own health at risk: AARP has found that one in five caregivers age 50 or older report physical strain and difficulty managing their own health as a result of caregiving demands. More than half of partner caregivers are over age 65 themselves.”

For more information and to review the complete report, visit the Joint Center for Housing Studies’ website.