By Noelle Marcus, Illustration by Gracia Lam, Stanford Social Innovation Review, March 22, 2021
The policies and resources devoted to housing security for Americans fall devastatingly short of meeting the need. Since 2017, nearly half of renters have spent 30 percent or more of their incomes on housing costs—an unsustainable portion, according to The US Department of Housing and Urban Development. And today, an unprecedented and long-term housing crisis looms, with an estimated 40 million Americans at risk of eviction, many of whom lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. This rental housing crisis disproportionately affects people of color, in part due to systemic racism in the mortgage industry, as well as younger generations whose homeownership rates have plummeted far below that of their parents' generation.
At the same time, an astounding 54 million spare bedrooms sit empty every night. Many of these spare bedrooms are located in the homes of older Americans, with millions more expected over the coming years. In fact, by 2035, one-third of all households in the United States are projected to be headed by someone age 65 or older, and more than half of these will be single-person households. Research shows that the vast majority of men and women over 50 want to stay in their current homes and communities as they age. Yet many face steep barriers to doing so, including insufficient fixed incomes and retirement savings, rising home maintenance costs and property taxes, and the debilitating health effects of loneliness and social isolation.
And so, we have two problems: Large numbers of renters—including many young, low-wage workers and students—are having a hard time finding affordable places to live, while growing numbers of older adults with space in their homes need extra income and companionship. One solution tackles both: intergenerational home-sharing.
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