"Home sharing is an increasingly important component in the quest to use existing housing stock more efficiently. It expediently creates more affordable room rental options, while at the same time addressing increasing crises in our rapidly aging society. Over the next ten years, the number of households aged 65-74 with “severe” rent burdens (where expenditures on housing account for above ½ of household income) are projected to rise by 42% (Housing America’s Older Adults, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, 2014). Increasing homelessness among older adults is one consequence of this trend; the number of homeless older adults is estimated to increase by 33% from 2010 to 2020 (Healthy Aging Begins at Home, Bipartisan Policy Center, 2016). Another crisis that home sharing directly addresses is the increasing isolation that older adults can experience, particularly when they can no longer drive or their mobility becomes limited in other ways, which directly impacts both their physical and mental health."
