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Millions of seniors struggle to afford housing — and it's about to get a lot worse (www.npr.org)

submitted 7 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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A few decades ago, Leslie McIntire thought she was doing everything right for a comfortable life. She was a tax accountant in Washington, D.C., and co-owned a not-for-profit bookstore. "I had good savings," she says. "I was quite happy, quite frankly, and I was preparing to go back to school."

Then a car accident dislocated her hip and jaw, left her psychologically rattled and derailed her career.

McIntire held on in her rent-controlled apartment for a while, even after she was forced to go on disability and started burning through savings. She eventually realized she needed more help, but then had to endure a three-year wait to get into the federally subsidized senior housing where she now lives.

"And by the time I got in here, I was seriously considering going into a shelter," she says. "I paid my rent, my utilities. I had SNAP benefits for food. And I had $25 left over. And you just can't live on that in the long run."

McIntire is 69, part of the baby boomer generation that is entering older age amid a historic affordable housing shortage and rising wealth inequality in the U.S.

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[-] pan_troglodytes@programming.dev 0 points 7 months ago

must not have been much of a career if a few dislocations fucked it all up.

this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023

120 points (99.2% liked)

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