The problem becomes even more exacerbated when, for example, seniors spend down their assets in order to get on Medicaid. However, there are only so many people that can get onto the Medicaid rolls.

Typically, senior housing is privately paid for by seniors with sufficient assets. Some Americans may have long-term care insurance to defray the costs but for low-income seniors, Medicaid only covers housing in the skilled nursing facilities. However, it is increasingly beginning to cover long-term services in the home and community-based settings. Low-income housing tax credits, among other programs, have helped finance housing for economically-disadvantaged seniors.

Another problem highlighted in the report: the single home and multifamily housing market will also be affected as seniors who are no longer able to navigate their 2-3 story home or who live in, for example, a 2nd floor condominium may have to sell as their mobility issues increase. With millions of seniors currently owning property, a large portion of the US' geographic landscape will be flooded with home sales plummeting prices, in some cases.

Potential Senior Housing

“As baby boomers age and want to remain sociable, there will need to be innovative and interesting housing options presented in the marketplace including increased co-living/co-housing options,” Mace says. For example, a younger person may rent a room from a senior, earning 50% off their rent by helping out around the house, she continues. “There could even be a living situation billed as senior workforce housing where teachers, healthcare workers, administrative assistants, among others, reside.”

It is true that some, or even many of 75+ seniors may initially resist senior housing not only because of a financial deficit but also because of life experiences, cultural norms and their specific generation's expectations and demands. However, a lot of the country's elderly will have no choice but to enter into some kind of senior living arrangement.

Furthermore, according to the study, these seniors eventually requiring housing will have attained a higher education and income level and will be more racially diverse. They also will have smaller families to recruit as unpaid caregivers than seniors today. Growth in the number of women will outpace men over the next ten years with women making up 58% of seniors 75+ years old in 2029, as compared to 56% in 2014.

Potential Incentives

Soon, incentives will need to be in place for developers to build affordable senior housing. The government can, perhaps, create incentives by expanding Medicare coverage of non-medical services and supports, expanding subsidy and voucher programs, broadening Medicaid's coverage of home and community-based services, and creating a Medicare benefit to cover long-term care, Mace says.

“The study hasn't created a solution as of yet, it is just putting a spotlight on it from a policymaker or legislative issue,” clarifies Mace. “If nothing else, this report should definitely generate a candid conversation between aging parents and their adult children about future care.”

The study was conducted by researchers at NORC at the University of Chicago, with funding provided by NIC, with additional support from AARP, the AARP Foundation, the John A. Hartford Foundation and the SCAN Foundation.