1.8 million households owned their homes, while 20% rented. Older homeowners had a median family income of $23,409, while renters had one of $12,233. Furthermore, whereas 39% of all homeowners spent more than one-fourth of their income on housing, 41% of older homeowners did so. However, some 73% of older homeowners had free and clear title to their residences. As for the value of owned homes, older persons' residences had a median value of $107,398, compared to $123,887 for the entire population of homeowners (AOA, 2002).
Differentials in distribution of assets and resources inform discussion of access to affordable housing for the elderly. As of 2000, some 90% of all older persons report getting their main source of income from Social Security. Assets count as an income source for 59% of the elderly, and pensions for 41%. Twenty-two percent of the elderly cite "earnings," such as wages, as an income source. This must be set beside figures showing that Social Security "accounted for 38% of the aggregate income of the older population. The bulk of the remainder consisted of earnings (23%), assets (18%), and pensions (18%)" (AOA, 2002).
Different kinship and household structures, as well as health status, are also important in regard to access to affordable housing for the elderly. Persons who are married, in good health, and among the older elderly population appear statistically to be more likely to be living independently. Those who are unmarried, disabled, and more at risk for health problems are more likely to be living in some kind of group setting, i.e., in a housing setting comprising persons who are not related to one another. One study also found that unmarried and less healthy persons who are among the younger segments of the elderly population are more likely to be found in a community living situation of some kind (Gretarsdottir, Depp, Meeks, & Woodruff-Borden, 2002).
Over the course of the 1990s in the US, the disc...