From Axios:
“As America ages, senior care — in-home and at facilities — is increasingly out of reach … Nearly 70% of seniors will need long-term care services as they age, per Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
“But just 13% of adults 75+ who live alone can afford assisted living — and only 14% can afford in-home care, according to the center’s analysis of 97 metro areas.
“For context, more than 40% of Americans 65+ live alone. When considering seniors over 80, that share jumps to nearly 60%.”
KC’s View:
Add to this equation three more factors.
• America has at least 600 hundred fewer nursing homes than it did a half-dozen years ago.
• US life expectancy is increasing.
• Baby boomers have had fewer kids than earlier generations, which means we have fewer family members to help us as we age.
I think this creates enormous opportunities for retailers, who should be able to figure out which of their stores have the oldest customers and then start to formulate programs – working with doctors, hospitals and other facilities that cater to the aged – that help them in myriad ways. It isn’t the only issue, but nutrition is such an important part of staying healthy as we age, and food retailers especially can play a critical role in this continuum.
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