The Opportunity Cost of Aging Adult Homelessness

The homeless population is aging. While the aging of the post-War baby boom population in general might suggest that this is not at all surprising, the age structure of the adult homeless population is distinct. As shown in Figure 1, three decennial censuses have revealed a cohort effect among the adult homeless population (Easterlin, 1979). Most of the adult homeless population since 1990, and likely for several years before, is concentrated among the latter half of the post-War baby boom population, born between 1955 and 1965 (Culhane et al., 2013). This has persisted for thirty years, and the 2020 Census will undoubtedly reveal a continuation of that trend. In 2020, the average age in this cohort will be 60 in a population with a life expectancy of 64 (Metraux et al., 2011). This trend has important implications for homelessness assistance programs, which have not in recent history experienced elderly homelessness in significant numbers.