Housing quality among the elderly: a decade of changes.

Little research has been conducted on housing quality among the elderly. The fault lies partly with the lack of reliable data. Studies on elderly housing quality are spotty, anecdotal, and unsystematic. Many rely on decennial census data which provide a limited and unsatisfactory portrait of special housing needs of elders in general. This article seeks to fill this void by reporting a comprehensive study of elderly housing quality. For all units, logistic regression revealed that region and race are the most important predictors of housing inadequacy; tenure and the gender of the person living alone are moderately powerful influences upon inadequacy. Housing inadequacy is greater among blacks, in the South, for males living alone, and for renters.

Elderly housing needs: an examination of the American Housing Survey.

The graying of the population will have a profound impact on the nation's ability to provide safe, quality, affordable housing to its elderly citizens. Meeting the housing challenge in the twenty-first century requires determining the nature and condition of the housing stock as well as the needs and concerns of the elderly. For example, one economic challenge is based on tenure. There is a tremendous disparity in housing costs between renters and homeowners. Almost 70 percent of renters pay 25 percent or more of their income for shelter while only 30 percent of homeowners are in the same category. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's American Housing Survey is a valuable tool which can help gerontologists and planners address a broad range of housing and related issues.