Press Release News

America’s second-largest generation is experiencing homelessness at an unprecedented rate. Baby boomers, who are the people between 57 and 75 years old are all single homeless adults in the country with no chances of these numbers going down. 

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) believes that older adults are not only homeless but also make up the largest share of the unhoused population. 

Due to the rise in homelessness, the experts warn of an impending silver tsunami meaning what can be triggering it and how it can be changed. 

The cities seeing the largest surge in homelessness among older Americans include Miami, Denver, and Columbus. There are plenty of older adults who did not become homeless for the first time. This can point towards the fact that more than two-fifths of baby boomers have no retirement savings and rely on social security to make both ends meet. 

Unfortunately, the average monthly social security check to a retired worker is only around $1800 which is not enough to cover rent and other expenses. 

The reasons for the rising homelessness among baby boomers are multiple recessions, high rent, and most of the states being heavily impacted than others. Besides this, the availability of assisted living facilities is also limited due to which thousands of older adults are put on the waiting lists. 

Helping seniors is also harder because they do not ask for assistance but still, there are some possible solutions to this. 

The experts say that the best alternative would be to increase the supply of affordable housing and make available rental assistance programs. Some systematic changes are also required to combat homelessness among older Americans. For Instance, the federal minimum wage, which hasn’t increased since 2009, remains at $7.25 in numerous states. This stagnation, coupled with inflation, poses significant challenges for older adults trying to afford housing.