From February 1 to April 1, 2024, New Jersey Advocates for Aging Well (NJAAW) conducted the “Statewide Survey of Older Adults” for NJ residents aged 60 and older. The survey had 1,440 participants throughout the state, with all counties represented. The results of the survey were released in August 2024. The number one issue of concern for the respondents was the economic challenges of living in New Jersey, specifically the ability to age in place where they currently live. This in turn has led to questions as to what approaches New Jersey can make through policies and planning to enable people to age and thrive where they live.
This new project, with funding from the New Jersey State Policy Lab, has a two-prong approach. The first is to conduct deeper analyses on the survey data as to who are having these challenges, where they live, their income level, etc. Parallel to those analyses, researchers will begin searching New Jersey data on the Elder Economic Security Index (EESI), the New Jersey Household Budget report, and the New Jersey Department of Human Services Age Friendly Blueprint for information on income and affordability in New Jersey. The idea is to see how well the survey data matches with the New Jersey state data and what these results can add to understanding the current status of older adults in New Jersey and the challenges they face.
The second approach is to look across the United States to see how other states are addressing housing and affordability. A State Plan on Aging is required by the Older Americans Act and outlines the roles and responsibilities of each state and its Area Agencies on Aging. In addition to following its State Plan, New Jersey has supported “age-friendly” initiatives through its Age Friendly Blueprint and a grant program to expand the capacity of communities to assess, plan, and develop local age-friendly initiatives to support the health and wellbeing of older adults.
Finally, two overlapping efforts are underway for New Jersey to adopt a Multisector Plan on Aging (MPA), a 10+ year plan for restructuring state and local policies and convening a wide range of cross-sector stakeholders to collaboratively address the needs of older-adult populations. Led by the Division of Aging Services, New Jersey a part of a learning cohort of seven states developing an MPA. NJAAW is a part of this learning collaborative. Simultaneously, NJAAW is leading Lifelong Strong New Jersey, a campaign to prioritize aging in the current gubernatorial race and asks candidates to commit to adopting an MPA once in office.
The goal of this project is to identify what other states are doing with their plans on housing and affordability that could be replicable in New Jersey. A synopsis of current data analyses and research into other state plans was presented at the NJAAW conference on May 16, 2025.