Housing for older adults is the focus of the summer edition of Generations. Alisha Sanders, the LTSS Center’s housing expert, is the guest editor.
The Summer 2020 edition of Generations, the journal of the American Society on Aging, recognizes the significant impact that housing policy has on all aspects of life for older adults, particularly persons of color.
The issue’s guest editor is Alisha Sanders, director of housing and services policy research at the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston. Linda Couch, vice president for housing policy at LeadingAge, contributed an article to the issue.
“Housing doesn’t often get emphasized in the aging services world,” Sanders says in an introduction to the latest issue of the journal, which was released Aug. 18. “I wanted to recognize the key role of the ‘shelters’ in which most older adults live, to help people to fully understand the housing situations of older adults, where gaps exist and which issues need addressing.”
HOUSING: OFTEN OVERLOOKED BUT CRITICAL
In her own article, Sanders shines a spotlight on how housing policy has been a “backburner issue.”
“Despite the housing affordability ‘crisis’ that has been impacting broad swaths of American households for years, for example, housing is infrequently addressed in presidential or other election campaigns,” she writes.
Part of the challenge is that housing in America is viewed as a private market good, and framed as a way to build wealth, Sanders explains. But as public attention focuses more on the social determinants of health and the nation’s racial and ethnic inequities, “we’re recognizing housing’s role in physical and mental health and life opportunities.”
For example, writes Sanders, individuals who are unstably housed are more likely to experience poor health than those who are stably housed. In addition, health and well-being can be impacted by quality and safety deficits in a home as well as the environment in which the home is located.
Sanders explores the impact of housing regulation—including redlining, race restrictive covenants, and discriminatory lending practices—on many current and future older adults of color. Specifically, Black older adults have had less opportunity to purchase a home, which has inhibited their opportunities to accumulate wealth over their lifetime. This leads to other problems, writes Sanders.
“Because the housing stock in redlined areas tends to be older, older adults’ homes in these neighborhoods may be in greater need of repair, and they have less equity that could be tapped into to finance needed repairs or modifications to help maintain the safety and accessibility of their home,” she writes. “This could put them at risk for falls or other injuries and could limit their ability to ambulate in and out of the home, leading to social isolation. Similarly, they have less equity to tap into to pay for services to help them age in place, if needed.”
Sanders urges aging services providers and policy makers to consider housing a “key platform supporting the implementation or success of their services and initiatives.” These stakeholders should support initiatives that provide older adults with adequate housing, including:
- Creation and preservation of affordable housing stock and rental subsidies.
- Mechanisms for financing home repairs and adaptations.
- Reforms to local and state land-use regulations, including inclusionary zoning opportunities and approvals for construction of new affordable senior communities.
- Promotion and enforcement of equitable housing finance opportunities.
- Elimination of barriers to fair housing.
OTHER ARTICLES IN THE ISSUE
The summer issue of Generations features 13 articles that fall under 3 headings:
Where Do Older Adults Really Live? includes Sanders article and explorations of the meaning of home for older adults and whether the nation can support a population seeking to age in place.
Affordable and Suitable, and When It’s Neither includes Couch’s article, and explorations of financial challenges at older ages, homeownership, aging in place, and homelessness.
Seeking Stability or a Better Path explores home modification, granny flats, and cohousing, cooperative housing, and home sharing. It also describes initiatives to build housing partnerships and create lifelong communities.
Couch’s article outlines how federal housing assistance programs fall far short of meeting the affordable housing needs of older adults with low incomes. Couch points to 3 solutions to this shortage, including an entitlement for housing assistance for older adults with low incomes, significant expansion of affordable homes, and financing of services for older adults within affordable housing communities.
“It is no surprise that there is an affordable housing crisis in America,” writes Couch. “What some people may not realize, however, is the degree to which older adults are affected by this situation.”