Shared households as a safety net for older adults

Abstract

With a record number of older adults facing housing affordability challenges, shared households may provide an important private housing safety net if other household members contribute to housing costs. Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, we describe the prevalence and characteristics of older adults' shared households (defined as those that include any adult besides the householder and householder's romantic partner). This includes intergenerational households and co-residence with other extended family and non-kin. We explore the safety net function of shared households by examining whether and how much older adults contribute towards shared housing costs, and how this varies across household types. These descriptive analyses improve our understanding of the composition and potential financial impacts of shared households for older adults.