June 17, 2026 Washington, DC — Statement from Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO, LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit and mission-driven providers of aging services, including affordable housing for older adults, on findings of the 2026 State of the Nation’s Housing report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, released today.

“The Joint Center’s latest report confirms what LeadingAge’s provider members have been sounding the alarm on for years: the nation has failed to provide enough low-cost housing, and older adults are bearing the consequences. For too many older adults living on fixed incomes, affordable, accessible housing is already out of reach, and conditions are getting worse, not better.

The report reinforces that America’s most serious and intractable shortage is for homes affordable to households with low incomes. It also makes clear that while increasing housing supply is important, it is not enough: public subsidy is necessary. The reality is that today’s development costs make it impossible to produce and operate affordable housing for low-income older adults as well as many of the professionals who care for older adults without public investment. At the same time, housing assistance remains profoundly underfunded, reaching only a fraction of those who qualify, while federal support continues to fall far short of need.

For older adults, the stakes are especially high. Already, 28 percent of households age 65 and older are cost burdened–that is, they spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent–and, as the older population grows to 71 million by 2030, millions more are at risk. Meanwhile, the affordable housing we do have is fragile: more than half a million homes financed through Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) could lose rent protections in the coming decade, even as rising costs for food, healthcare, and other essentials squeeze already limited incomes.

This is the cost of inaction—and it is already visible in rising housing instability and record levels of homelessness nationwide. 

But the report also underscores a clear path forward. The solution is not either/or—it is both. America must commit to expanding housing supply and strengthening public funding behind it, through project- and tenant-based assistance, because significant public subsidies are essential to produce and preserve the deeply affordable homes that older adults need.

Congress has an opportunity now to change course. By investing in proven programs like Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly, project-based Section 8, Housing Choice Vouchers, public housing, and homeless assistance grants, lawmakers can begin to close the gap between need and reality. LeadingAge urges Congress to act with urgency and purpose—because with the right investments, we can ensure that older adults have the affordable, accessible housing they need to age with dignity.”

We represent more than 5,300 nonprofit and mission-driven aging services providers serving older adults and touching millions of lives every day. From our national headquarters in Washington, DC, and in collaboration with our state partners representing members active in 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, we use advocacy, education, applied research, and community-building to make America a better place to grow old. Our membership encompasses the entire continuum of aging services, including skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care, affordable housing, retirement communities, adult day programs, hospice, Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), and home-based care. We bring together the most inventive minds in the field to lead and innovate solutions that support older adults wherever they call home. For more information, visit leadingage.org.