An Excellent New Report on Housing and Older Adults

The Stanford Center on Longevity released a report last week entitled "New Realities of an Older America" that shows how the US population will become older and more diverse.

            In the report’s chapter on housing, the authors emphasize the mismatch between a national housing stock that is increasing made up of large suburban homes, and an aging population that’s increasingly living alone or in couples without children. Though the report doesn’t examine the wealth and income of the new generation of Americans over 65, the report reveals that the suburbs of 2030 may be in rapid transition. Who will buy these millions of homes when residents need full-time assistance with activities of daily living? This level of assistance may be unaffordable on a fixed income, and may require millions of elderly Americans to sell their homes in a relatively short period of time.