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No shortage of pundits argue that the houses occupied by older homeowners are too big considering the small size of their households. Given the rhythm of their life events, they are easy targets for such criticism.

By the time they reach their 60s, their grown children have typically left to pursue their own lives. Then, one or more bedrooms and recreational areas in their dwellings become unused spaces. Older people's homes can become even more underutilized at more advanced ages when their sole occupants are potentially widowed or divorced people in their 70s and older.

However, the most glaring evidence of older people occupying dwellings too big for their needs occurs when physical ailments restrict their mobility. Unable to easily climb stairs, many abandon the entire second floor of their houses. These living adjustments obviously provide justification to the oversized housing critics.

But paradoxically, other professionals condone these behaviors. In the U.S., we applaud older people who live in "aging-ready homes" with a bedroom and full bathroom on the first floor. By occupying but a fraction of their houses, they are physically capable of living independently and aging in place.

But the "too big" perceptions prevail, so the findings of a recent and well-publicized study in the United States and an earlier comparable Canadian report should not be surprising. They conclude that the number of aged 65 and older households living in oversized homes is at historical highs, with about 8 of every ten living in dwellings with unused spare bedrooms.

But the criticism does not stop there.

Aging homeowners are made to feel guilty about their greedy space consumption behaviors. They are accused of selfishly depriving younger people of new home-buying opportunities by remaining in their current dwellings. The rationale is that these larger and growing families could make better use of their oversized homes.

The Danger of Simplistic Statistical Computations

But these sterile statistical indicators tell only part of the story. They fail to acknowledge the many productive ways older people adaptively reuse and think about the extra bedrooms and vacated spaces in their dwellings. Here are ten examples:

Adult children who earlier moved from their family home now urgently require "free" living quarters because of a looming divorce, unemployment, or a career-changing hiatus.
Grown adult children and grandchildren visit on extended vacation stays.
Close friends enjoy "reunion" visits.
The initiation of a hobby or part-time business requires new working spaces.
Older people redesign a spare bedroom to function as a "fitness" sanctuary, an entertainment zone, or a relaxing retreat.
Older occupants rent spare bedrooms to younger boarders, benefiting from extra monthly cash and sometimes their help with routine dwelling chores.
Worried about being alone in their old age or overburdened by dwelling costs, the extra room accommodates a home-sharing relationship—such as an old college friend or a "stranger" screened and matched by a home-sharing business or agency.
If they cannot care for themselves because of health or mobility declines, the extra room accommodates a live-in caregiver. In exchange for receiving room and board, these workers may offer their services at a more affordable price.
Extra rooms in their dwellings enable older people to store a lifetime of accumulated material possessions, including furniture, books, clothing, childhood toys, artwork, religious items, and memorabilia. They feel emotionally attached to these "treasures" because they bring back pleasurable memories of their past lives.
Remaining in an oversized dwelling has symbolic value. The larger dwelling communicates to acquaintances and "outsiders" that the older occupant had a prosperous past life.

Are Older People Acting Wisely?

Defying their critics, older homeowners enjoy all kinds of benefits from their larger homes. But we must also acknowledge that some display an irrational exuberance for staying put in their houses. Some might have fewer dwelling-related problems if they moved to more appropriately sized accommodations.

Living in houses with unused space inevitably results in unnecessarily higher property taxes, property insurance, and utility bills. These can financially and emotionally burden older homeowners on low fixed incomes. Sometimes, these costs force them to cut back on their food and healthcare expenditures. And because these larger dwellings are often older, they require financially draining repairs and physical modifications to make them safe and secure.

But we also must not be too quick to criticize.

Many older people view moving elsewhere as too physically, emotionally, and financially stressful to contemplate. And even when motivated to downsize, they are often deterred by the lack of affordable housing alternatives—a subject for future commentary.

And at the risk of being cynical, it is lower- and middle-income older people who are in the crosshairs of critics. We conveniently ignore the "fabulously wealthy" populations of all ages who enjoy their large mansions.

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About the Author

Stephen M. Golant, Ph.D., is a leading national speaker, author, and researcher on the housing, mobility, transportation, and long-term care needs of older adult populations. He is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, a Fulbright Senior Scholar award recipient, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Florida. Golant’s latest book is Aging in The Right Place, published by Health Professions Press. Contact him at golant@ufl.edu

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