Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies Examines Rising Cost Burdens Impacting Older Women 

Ella Izenour, Opportunity Starts at Home Intern 

The Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies recently published an article, “Living Longer with Less: The Financial Burdens on Older Women,” that examines the rising financial burdens on older women. Using data from the 2024 American Community Survey, the report reveals a growing number of older women who are heading households while grappling with lower incomes, gender-based wage gaps, and material hardship. 

Analysis of the 2024 American Community Survey reveals that, over the past decade, the number of older women who rent or own their own homes has risen by 37%, 7% higher than the number of households headed by older men. However, older women are more likely to live alone, rent rather than own, and have lower incomes. These findings raise concerns around loneliness, isolation, and access to care, as access to professional at-home care is often unaffordable. Median income for older female-headed households is $48,000, two-thirds that of male-headed households. As women age, this gap widens, with households headed by women over 79 making a median income of $36,000. The majority of older renters are women, and for female renters 65 and older the median income is $27,000. Hispanic and Black older women have much lower median incomes than white or Asian women.   

As a result of these factors, older female-headed households are more likely to face housing cost burdens or severe burdens than older male-headed households. Among older female renters, half experience cost burdens, and the rate is even higher for women renters living alone at 66%. As people age, these burdens worsen. After age 89, 49% of women householders are cost-burdened, compared to 37% of men. These cost burdens are linked with housing instability and tradeoffs between paying for housing and covering other essentials like food and healthcare.   

The article concludes by calling for policies to address disparities in economic stability. It highlights the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,” passed by the Senate, as one pathway to new affordable housing. The article also warns against recent cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, which will further strain household budgets and limit access to care, and calls for expanding subsidies to support households headed by older women. 

Read the article here.  

To learn more about the intersections of housing, gender, and aging, read the OSAH fact sheets here.