The Emerging Crisis of Aged Homelessness

From author(s): The second half of the baby boomer generation has constituted a disproportionate share of the homeless population since the 1980s, making up 1 in 3 homeless single adults in the U.S. in 2010. Policymakers are ill-prepared and social service providers are poorly equipped to address the growing health care needs of this cohort that comes from the combined effects of homelessness and aging. This study, part of a multi-site project in three U.S cities, reports results from New York City on this convergence of aging and growing health care needs, and the potential of a set of housing solutions to mitigate this problem while providing net cost savings.