New research released from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University looks at peoples’ experiences with their housing’s accessibility. According to the research, of the nation’s households, about 5% or 6.8 million, have at least one resident who has a hard time getting into, getting around, or using their home. More than half of households who had a hard time using their home were living in a household headed by someone 65 or older. Fully 10% of households headed by someone 80 or older had a resident with a difficulty using the kitchen, bathroom, or both. Among older adult-headed households, one-third of households with a resident who used a manual wheelchair, electric wheelchair, a crutch, or other mobility aid also reported difficulty navigating or using the home. This compares with just 2% of older adult households without a resident who used a mobility aid. The researchers also found that housing fit was linked to both income and tenure status. Across age groups, higher income residents had better housing fit, the researchers found. Ten percent of households with incomes below $30,000 reported fit difficulties as compared with just three percent of households with incomes of at least $75,000. Older renters had poorer housing fit as compared with owners, with almost a quarter of renters over 80 reporting difficulties getting around or using the home as compared with closer to 15% of owners in this age group. Read the new research here.
