Tens of millions of U.S. residents have a problem. There aren’t enough homes for the elderly and disabled population. One in four of us — more than 60 million people — have a disability. And our older adult population is rapidly growing.
As a general matter, the United States needs something between 3 million and 6 million homes, according to Republican Senator Mike Braun of Indiana, who sits on the Senate’s aging committee. Bob Casey, the U.S. Senator and former governor of Pennsylvania, notes how disabled home seekers are doubly disadvantaged in this market. They need homes they can afford and homes they can navigate safely, despite their disabilities.
Casey, who chairs the Senate Special Committee on Aging, recently proposed a federal bill. It would require the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program to fund homes with accessibility features.
Will Casey’s proposal get support? Will other laws be proposed? We’ll have to see. We’re certainly expecting a heightened interest in this issue nationwide.
Continue reading “Locked Out: Less Than 5% of U.S. Housing Is Accessible to Older, Disabled Residents”
