Less than 5% of housing is accessible to older, disabled Americans

Despite a sizeable elderly and disabled population in the U.S., there is not enough affordable housing to accommodate those individuals.

“For millions of Americans, adequate housing is more of an aspiration than a reality,” said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who serves as chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, at a Thursday hearing.

“In particular, too many older adults and people with disabilities cannot afford accessible housing,” Casey said.

About 26% of the U.S. population — or about 61 million people — have a disability, Casey said. At the same time, 1 in 5 Americans will be older than 65 by 2030.

Accessible homes — which offer…