by generation in the US

and it's what many people think of

when they refer to boomers as the wealthiest generation,

but that's only part of the story.

As a whole, they hold about half of US wealth,

much of it in real estate,

but that's mostly these boomers born between 1946 and 1954.

The younger boomers, on the other hand,

are increasingly struggling with homelessness.

Here's how boomers are exacerbating the housing shortage

and overwhelming local economies

as a record number of them age.

Around 80% of older boomers,

who are now mostly in their 70s, are homeowners.

- These are folks who are able to buy homes

when they were younger.

A lot of them have paid off their mortgages

and their homes have appreciated a lot

over the last few decades.

- [Narrator] Boomers own over 35%

of all large homes in the US.

Most of those homes belong to households

with no children living with them.

What's happening is that these older Americans

are increasingly choosing to age in place.

- They feel a connection to the community.

Financially, they might feel kind of stuck with their home.

You know, I already own this free and clear.

If I wanted to buy another home,

that new home is gonna cost a lot more.

- [Narrator] This trend of older homeowners

hanging onto their houses

is exacerbating the housing shortage

and contributing to rising home prices.

- It's especially acute of a problem right now

because millennials are at kind of a prime home buying

time in their lives,

and the millennial generation is a very large generation.

- [Narrator] California homeowners

typically stay put the longest.

- California has a very unique tax structure

where you're very much incentivized to stay where you are

because as long as you stay in your home,

your property taxes won't go up.

- [Narrator] Not all boomers

are holding onto their large homes.

Around 20% are selling,

but one reason this might not be making

as big of an impact on the housing shortage

is that boomers aren't really downsizing

with their new home,

so they're not increasing the supply

of large homes on the market.

- That could be driven by there not being a lot of good,

what we call starter home, or kinda smaller home options,

because in general, when builders are building,

they tend to be building larger and more expensive homes.

- [Narrator] At the same time,

younger boomers are driving up the number

of older homeless people in cities across the country.

- Elderly homelessness has been rare

since the reemergence of homelessness in the mid 1980s.

Usually it's been people in their 20s and 30s and 40s,

but now we're approaching close to 30%

of the adult homeless population are people 55 and over.

- [Narrator] This is partly due to the fact

that boomers are such a big cohort, and since the '80s,

they've made up the largest share

of the homeless population.

This chart shows how younger boomers specifically

have made up about a third

of the US homeless population for decades,

but a lot of boomers are also experiencing homelessness

for the first time as they've gotten older.

A 2023 UCSF study found that over 40%

of homeless older adults in California

were homeless for the first time after the age of 50.

For some, this was caused by a major life event

like the death of a spouse or a medical emergency.

For others, especially those living on social security,

it was due to high housing costs.

In Naples, Florida, for example,

there are more elderly homeless people

as social security payments

haven't kept up with rent increases.

There's also a significant number of people who worked jobs

that didn't contribute to social security,

so they're ineligible

for social security income in retirement.

- We see it very often in things like migrant labor,

construction, especially demolition,

high risk kind of jobs that are low skilled.

So instead, they get this program

called Supplemental Security Income,

which is around $950 a month right now.

- [Narrator] Homes at the very bottom of the market

have also been heavily affected

by the nationwide housing shortage.

- The supply of those marginal

but available housing options shrinks

in the context of a very hot real estate market

because even these properties

that were serving very low income people, hotels, motels,

the price is going up for those and the people wanna sell.

They wanna to convert,

knock down new buildings, what have you.

- [Narrator] Low cost assisted living centers,

which were never built in adequate numbers

to handle the large boomer generation,

have also been closing amid staffing shortages

and financial troubles.

Researchers estimate that in New York City alone,

healthcare and shelter costs

will surpass $450 million by 2030.

Academic researchers attribute

the different economic prospects

of the older and younger boomers

to something called the cohort effect,

which is the idea that people born in the same period

share unique experiences as they move across time.

- The older baby boomers in particular,

this is a generation that was coming of age

into an economy that was really booming.

- [Narrator] When they bought homes in the '70s or '80s,

home prices were low and interest rates were high.

- What happened right after that

was that you had four decades

where interest rates basically just fell.

That meant that even though they were entering

into home ownership at a time when rates were high,

they were able to refinance.

- [Narrator] The second half of the boomer generation

came of age during back-to-back recessions.

- They faced a very crowded housing market.

Prices were escalating.

Young adults in particular faced the challenge

of getting entry into the labor market.

- Jobs are hardly coming.

How about you? You hiring?

- [Narrator] The crack cocaine epidemic in the '80s

led many to struggle with homelessness.

- And that population has continued to be at risk

as they've gotten older.

- Sometimes if you miss a window by,

you know, even five years, 10 years,

you're looking at a very different housing market

or you're looking at a very different labor market

and it takes time to catch up.

- [Narrator] Over the next 10 years,

some researchers are counting on

what they call a silver tsunami,

a huge wave of housing inventory from baby boomers

aging out of their homes.

They say this would free up houses

for younger families to move into,

but other housing experts say that's unlikely to happen.

- If you are looking for inventory from that mechanism,

it's gonna be a trickle.

It's not gonna be like this big tsunami

that happens all of the sudden.

- [Narrator] By 2030, all boomers will have reached

traditional retirement age,

which researchers expect will only increase the pressure

on healthcare facilities and shelters.

- We need to fix the federal safety net.

The Biden administration,

the budget that they put out this year

included $3 billion to address elderly homelessness.

I don't think that's likely to pass,

but it's the first time that we've seen

a federal proposal of any kind,

so at least it's out there and it's in the conversation

'cause we should not have destitute elderly

or disabled people in the richest country on Earth.