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Housing Our Elders
How Many Homes Are Age Ready?
By Cheryl Russell
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Only ten percent of the nation’s housing units are ready for the challenge of sheltering the coming tsunami of aging baby-boomers, according to the Census Bureau (Old Housing, New Needs: Are U.S. Homes Ready for an Aging Population?) What does “ready” mean? There’s a test for that. Three features are required before a housing unit is “age ready,” as the Census Bureau calls it: a step-free entry, a bedroom and full bathroom at entry level, and at least one accessibility feature in the bathroom—such as an elevated toilet, built-in shower seat, or grab bars. Nine out of 10 houses do not pass the test.
Why is the lack of age ready housing a concern? Let’s count the ways: 1) Millions of boomers are inflating the ranks of the old; 2) Most will want to remain in their homes for as long as possible; and 3) Because 90 percent of homes are not age ready, they pose a threat to boomers—the threat of falling down.
Falling down is a big deal for older people. Falls are the leading cause of injury for people aged 65 or older, with more than one in four falling down at least once over the course of a year, according to the CDC. Ten percent experience a fall-related injury. The annual medical cost for treating these falls is more than $50 billion. Falling down also can be fatal. Falls are a major cause of death among older Americans, with 32,000 people aged 65 or older dying from a fall in 2018. The 65-plus age group accounts for nearly 9 out of 10 deaths from falls in the United States.
There’s another reason falling down is a matter of great concern: The death rate is rising. Over the past decade, the death rate from falls has grown 3 percent per year among people aged 65 or older. The experts don’t know why the rate is rising so rapidly, but one theory is that older people are living longer with chronic conditions, which make them more vulnerable to falling down and more likely to die if they do. To stem the rise, the CDC is urging greater efforts at fall prevention, which is why older Americans are now asked about falls during their annual wellness visits. This is also why the government is examining the health and safety characteristics of people’s homes.
The Census Bureau discovered a plethora of problems when it asked the public about the features of their home that could increase the risk of falling down. Only 42 percent of homes in the United States have a step-free entry. Most homes are multi-story, and just 57 percent of multi-story homes have a bedroom and full bathroom at entry level. Only 25 percent of housing units include at least one accessibility feature in the bathroom.
Because so few housing units are age ready, a large share of older Americans report difficulties functioning safely at home. Ten percent of households with adults aged 65 or older report difficulty getting into or out of the bathtub or shower, as do 23 percent of households with adults aged 85 or older. An even larger 24 percent of households with adults aged 65 or older report difficulty walking or climbing stairs in their home, as do 42 percent of households with adults aged 85 or older.

The number of people aged 65 or older who die from falls could climb as high as 59,000 annually by 2030, according to CDC projections. To halt the rise will require a concerted effort to make more homes age ready.