By 2038, there will be 17.5 million households in their 80s or older, which is more than double to 8.1 million recorded in 2018, according to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. [1]
Harvard also reports that these households will represent a larger share of all U.S. households, doubling from 6% in 2018 to 12% in 2038.
The share of homes owned by someone aged 65 or older are either married couples living by themselves is at 37% and single homeowners in this category are at 42%. However, the share of homeowners over the age of 80 is 58%.
Harvard reports that the number of homeowners in the oldest age group over the next 20 years is forecasted to grow from 4.7 million in 2018 to 10.1 million in 2038.
The majority of older single-person homes are female, representing 74% of solo households over the age of 80 in 2018. Harvard said this trend is likely to continue over the next two decades.
Also, single people in the oldest age group are more likely to pay for in-home assistance, while also having lower average incomes than their married counterparts. People over the age of 80 who live alone have an average income of $22,000 in 2018, compared to $51,700 for married couples.
“Lower incomes make it more difficult to afford housing, and single-person households are indeed more likely to face housing cost burdens (paying more than 30% of one’s income on housing) than those in other living situations,” Harvard states in its report.
Single homeowners over the age of 80 are more than twice as likely to face cost burden than married couples of the same age. Twenty-two percent of couples are cost-burdened—48% of single-person households are cost-burdened.
Additionally, single homeowners of the oldest age group are more likely to rent their homes than married couples. Under half of the homeowners over the age of 80 are single, compared to 77% of renter households of the same age.