Yesterday the Associated Press reported that there is a crisis of senior homeless in Arizona, According to the article, this crisis is likely to get worse, "Academics project their numbers will nearly triple over the next decade, challenging policy makers from Los Angeles to New York to imagine new ideas for sheltering the last of the baby boomers as they get older, sicker and less able to pay spiraling rents."
The fact that this national trend is having an impact in our neighboring state raises the question of whether we are experiencing a similar problem in Utah. According to Utah's state homelessness dashboard, 949 of the 4,624 people who used emergency shelter services in Utah between January 1 and March 15 of this year were age 55 or older. 72 percent of these older people experiencing homelessness lived in Salt Lake County.
The total number of people in Salt Lake County experiencing homelessness over the age of 55 is increasing at about the same rate as the general increase in homelessness. However, people over 55 are having a harder time exiting homelessness. Between January 1 and March 15, 2022, the percentage of all people using emergency shelters who were able to exit homelessness was 36 percent. For people aged 55 and older, only 27 percent were able to exit homelessness.
If people aged 55 and older continue to exit homelessness more slowly than younger people then the share of beds being taken up by older homeless people will steadily increase each night. At some point, the shelters where childless adults can live will become de facto senior centers.
Seniors generally have at least Social Security income and so an increase in senior homelessness generally corresponds to increases in the price of rent. On April 1st, the Deseret News reported that the price of the average two bedroom apartment in Salt Lake County increased by 43 percent last year. By contrast, the Social Security cost of living allowance increase for 2021 was only 1,3 percent.
Salt Lake County and state leaders can respond to this problem by promoting the development of more affordable housing.
The fact that this national trend is having an impact in our neighboring state raises the question of whether we are experiencing a similar problem in Utah. According to Utah's state homelessness dashboard, 949 of the 4,624 people who used emergency shelter services in Utah between January 1 and March 15 of this year were age 55 or older. 72 percent of these older people experiencing homelessness lived in Salt Lake County.
The total number of people in Salt Lake County experiencing homelessness over the age of 55 is increasing at about the same rate as the general increase in homelessness. However, people over 55 are having a harder time exiting homelessness. Between January 1 and March 15, 2022, the percentage of all people using emergency shelters who were able to exit homelessness was 36 percent. For people aged 55 and older, only 27 percent were able to exit homelessness.
If people aged 55 and older continue to exit homelessness more slowly than younger people then the share of beds being taken up by older homeless people will steadily increase each night. At some point, the shelters where childless adults can live will become de facto senior centers.
Seniors generally have at least Social Security income and so an increase in senior homelessness generally corresponds to increases in the price of rent. On April 1st, the Deseret News reported that the price of the average two bedroom apartment in Salt Lake County increased by 43 percent last year. By contrast, the Social Security cost of living allowance increase for 2021 was only 1,3 percent.
Salt Lake County and state leaders can respond to this problem by promoting the development of more affordable housing.