The country's elderly population is expected to double in the next 30 years. This extraordinary demographic shift will affect almost all Americans and will create increasing pressure to understand and meet the needs of older people. A recently released report assesses one of the most fundamental needs of the elderly nationwide—the need for safe, affordable housing linked to appropriate services. Housing Our Elders: A Report Card on the Housing Conditions and Needs of Older Americans updates The Challenge of Housing Security released in July 1999 and finds that most older Americans live in quality housing that is within their means and located in neighborhoods that they like. However, the report also indicates that millions of elderly people live in housing that costs too much, is in substandard condition, or fails to accommodate their physical capabilities or assistance needs. Housing Our Elders specifies serious challenges for the elderly population in the three key dimensions of housing conditions—adequacy, affordability, and accessibility—and shows that a fourth dimension, appropriateness, needs to be added. Six percent of seniors (1.45 million households) live in housing that needs repair and/or rehabilitation. While the worst housing conditions affect homeowners and renters alike, homeowners are much more likely to have the financial resources to address repair or rehabilitation needs. High costs are the most widespread housing problem among older Americans, with more than 7.4 million households paying more than they can afford. Thirty percent of elderly households have high housing costs, paying more than 30 percent of their income for shelter. Not surprisingly, affordability problems are highly concentrated among lower income households with few assets (approximately 1.7 million seniors with low incomes spend more than half their income on shelter. There is also a shortage of fully accessible housing in both the owner-occupied and the rental stock. The report's final finding relates to the appropriateness of housing for the elderly. Housing opportunities for seniors often remain fixed on the two extremes of the eldercare continuum—no assistance or nursing home care. In recent years both the private and public sectors have begun to respond to the need for alternatives to these two extremes. In answer to these challenges, the Administration's Housing Security Plan is designed to help communities assemble and coordinate a comprehensive continuum of care to meet the changing housing and service needs of their elders. The plan embodies three overarching goals:
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