Affordability Crisis: Middle-Income Seniors Grapple with Housing and Care Burdens

In the United States, a silent crisis is unfolding as millions of older adults grapple with the daunting challenge of affording both housing and the essential long-term care (LTC) services they increasingly rely on as they age. This pressing issue is meticulously detailed in the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies 2023 report, “Housing America’s Older Adults“.

The statistics paint a stark reality: a mere 14 percent of individuals aged 75 and older who live alone can afford a daily visit from a home health aide after covering their housing and other basic living expenses. Similarly, just 13 percent can manage the base rates for assisted living facilities, which encompass both housing and care costs, aligning with the median rates in their respective areas.

To delve deeper into this dual burden of housing and care costs confronting a growing segment of older adults, JCHS conducted an extensive analysis using 2021 data from 97 metropolitan areas. The results unveiled a significant disparity in the ability of older adults to afford both housing and daily assistance across different metro areas. Read Housing Perspectives: Older Adults with Moderate Income Cannot Afford the Dual Burden of Housing and Care to learn more.