In 2024, New Jersey Advocates for Aging Well conducted a statewide survey of older adults and gathered quantitative and qualitative data on residents aged 60 and over on the challenges and concerns related to aging in NJ. The findings show that cost of living—including taxes, housing costs, and overall expenses—are top concerns for residents and the main driving force that would lead them to choose to leave the Garden State after retirement. Further, many New Jersey residents report that they do not have what they need to age in place. While the state has expanded the eligibility for programs designed to help older residents, people at every income level reported facing challenges to meet their needs.
This new project, with funding from the New Jersey State Policy Lab, has a two-pronged 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. The second approach is to look across the U.S. to see how other states are addressing housing and affordability.