Elderly people, defined for this paper as those aged 65 and over, are a growing segment of the United States population. In assessing their needs, living conditions, and financial status, housing is an important element.

The Census Bureau projects that the older population will grow by about 6 million in just 14 years, from about 29 million in 1986 to about 35 million people in the year 2000. When the postwar baby boom begins turning 65 in 2011, the older population will swell rapidly, reaching perhaps 65 million in 2030, nearly doubling in three decades. The elderly will constitute about one-fifth of the United States population in 2030. In 1984, older people were about 12 percent of the population, but 21 percent of households had an elderly householder in whose name the unit was owned or rented. If this ratio of population to households continues, households with a householder aged 65 and over will constitute about 35 percent of all households in 2030.

Housing is usually the largest, and in many cases, the only substantial investment of younger and older people alike. For older people, however, this nonliquid asset might become a welcome source of spendable cash in a time when wage and salary earnings have ceased, especially when health expenditures (including those for long-term care) may be large.

In a broader sense, if one's personal mobility diminishes, especially among those of advanced age, the dwelling of an older person becomes more and more that person's major environment. As health status changes and space needs diminish, the dwelling may become less suitable than it was at a younger stage of life. For example, stairs to bathrooms and bedrooms on upper floors may be difficult barriers. Yet moving to what would appear to be a more suitable residence may mean an upsetting change from a familiar neighborhood; from a physical setting imbued with years of memories; loss of privacy; a stressful confronting of new neighbors and possibly care givers; unfamiliar surroundings; and a new financial burden.

Certainly the housing needs of people change as they age. People in their eighties differ from those in their sixties, just as a middle-aged person differs from a teenager. As people age, they often experience income loss, widowhood, and a lessening of physical robustness. A dwelling suitable to people in their late sixties may become burdensome in their seventies or eighties.

It is useful, therefore, to consider the housing of the older population in terms of age groups, rather than as the usual "65 and over” category as if they were a homogeneous “elderly” population. Most studies have not differentiated among age groups within the elderly population.

As this paper will show, when the data are analyzed in terms of separate age groups over 65 it becomes clear that the characteristics of housing of those in their late sixties and early seventies are more like those under 65 than different. There is evidence that a transition in housing takes place for many householders once they reach their mid-seventies and beyond. While most elderly households of all age groups live in traditional housing, and most have appliances considered basic parts of the American standard of living, cost burdens rise with age, especially for renters with low incomes.

In reaching these and other conclusions, the paper describes the prevalence of various housing types, household size, length of residence in the present housing unit, and the age of the structure itself. Level of comfort is measured in terms of extent of crowding, number of floors, type of heating fuel and presence of air conditioning, and availability of various appliances. Affordability, an important public policy consideration, is addressed separately for owners and renters. The paper also considers the extent to which low-income older households benefit from rent and mortgage interest subsidies, and whether many of these households are on a waiting list to gain access to public housing.