In 10 Years 54% Of Us Won't Be Able to Afford Senior Housing

Beth Burnham Mace

WASHINGTON, DC—On paper senior housing is looking great considering the headwinds that demographic trends are expected to deliver. However, one question that is not often explored is perhaps the most fundamental: how will users of these facilities pay for them? The US, after all, is in the midst of a retirement crisis, with numerous studies showing that few Americans have saved sufficiently for their golden years. Now, new research released today at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care’s Health Affairs Forum in Washington, DC, explores that very topic.

It found that by 2029, the number of middle-income Americans over 75 years old will nearly double to 14.4 million and 54% of those senior citizens won’t be able to afford senior housing and care, even if they’ve committed 100% of their annual financial resources. Additionally, 60% of this population will have mobility limitations and 20% will have high functional and health care needs.