People aged 65 and older are the fastest-growing group of people who are homeless and their ranks will peak by 2030.
This daunting forecast comes amid escalating rents nationally, stubborn inflation and a potential recession that compounds woes for baby boomers who have minimal savings for retirement. It also comes as traditional workplace pensions are increasingly rare and workers must rely on the savings they have accumulated through their working lives.
Patti Prunhuber, director of housing advocacy at Justice in Aging, a legal advocacy group focused on senior poverty, pointed to escalating rents, depleted savings, loss of a spouse or partner, or an unexpected medical costs, or a loss of a job because of injury as factors contributing to older homelessness. “It takes just one crisis to push someone who is rent-burdened onto the streets,” Prunhuber said.
