Residential, Office, Commercial, Restaurant & Senior Care

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Aging Population in NJ

Demographics

- Adults aged 65 and above make up 17.4% of the state’s population, which lines up with the national average

- 10% of the NJ population is between 65-74 years old

- 5.4% of the NJ population is between 75-84 years old

- 2% of the NJ population is 85 or older

- There are more women who are over the age of 65 compared to men

- 33.8% of 65+ in NJ participate in the workforce (March 2024), which is 548,178 people

- 10% of the 65+ population experience poverty

Poverty in seniors is higher among:

- Adults age over the age of 80

- Older women 

- Racial and ethnic minority

- Older adults who are not married

NJ 2024 population: 9,320,865

NJ 65+ population (17.4%)= 1,621,830

There are 162,183 people in New Jersey that are older than 65 that live in poverty

Workforce

- 33.8% of 65+ in NJ participate in the workforce (March 2024) which is 548,178 people

- LendingTree’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey data mentions, “New Jersey saw the largest jump in older adults in the workforce. In March 2022, 20.3% of Americans 65 and older were employed in New Jersey. By March 2024, this figure had risen 66.5% to 33.8%. Delaware and Indiana followed with rises of 37.4% and 32.2%, respectively.” (https://www.lendingtree.com/debt-consolidation/retirement-age-workers-study/)

Locally:

- 18.2% of the Monmouth County population is over 65 (2019)

- 22.8% of Ocean County’s population is over 65 (2019) this is the second highest percentage in the state

https://www.prb.org/usdata/indicator/age65/table/New%20Jersey/counties/ 

Cost of living

- Medical: 

o “According to the 2022 New Jersey Elder Index, a single person 65 and older spends an average of $457 on health costs each month, including premiums and out‐of‐pocket expenses.” (Elder Index, 2022).

o Community based long term services for older adults significantly impacts expenses, costing anywhere between $9,660 per year to $52,823 for the care of one person. (Elder index 2022)

- Elder index*:

o For a single older adult living alone, the New Jersey Elder Index for 2019 is:

      - $28,056 for homeowners without a mortgage,

      - $29,616 for renters, and

      - $41,292 for homeowners with a mortgage

- Social Security:

o “The average Social Security benefit for a retired worker in New Jersey, at $1,617 per month ($19,402 per year), is higher than the poverty guideline, but well below the Elder Index for owners without a mortgage, further below the Elder Index for older adults paying market rate rents, and even further below (less than half) the Elder Index for owners who have a mortgage. While Social Security was never intended to be the sole source of income, in reality it is the only income source for a sizable share of older New Jersey residents.” (Elder Index 2021)

* Elder Index: The Elder Index is a geographically specific measure created by the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston to estimate the cost of living in older adults (aged 65 and older) without public support considering income that might come from Social Security and other benefits, as well as expenses such as housing, healthcare, transportation, food. It is a benchmark for determining whether older adults have the financial resources to meet their basic needs. It also highlights the disparity between income and the cost of living. (https://www.njaaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/NJ-Elder-Index-Report-FINAL-1.13.2021.pdf) 

Since the turn of the century, particularly within the past four decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the rate and incidence of longevity, which has confronted us with this striking new phenomenon. Longevity has generally remained the object of great curiosity and now has provided extensive areas of research.  According to 2017 census, there is approximately 47 million seniors living in the the United States.  This represents about 15% of the population and in the next 40 years that population will be over 100 million.  There are over 20% of the senior population working full time according to the Pew Research poll taken in 2016 and many seniors today will not retire since they have not been able to save enough money for the expenses dealing with full retirement issues.  Caring for this age group and their needs presents many housing issues throughout the country and there is a need to assist the senior population cope with living into their elderly years, remain an important part of our community and manage with living experiences of aging gracefully with compassion and care. 

This Firm has an experienced background in understanding the elderly population and their needs.  The Firm would like to meet and discuss with your group, organization or any individual that would require building and design services to create accessible and sensible spaces to ease their future building uses as they age. 

• Altering & Adapting Existing Buildings for Elderly Use 
• Senior Community Centers
• Senior Living Complexes
• Retirement Center Planning and Design  
• Barrier Free Design
• Create Communities that express care and compassion for all ages

The TIPPING POINT and BEYOND     __ __ __  .  .  .  __  __  __     Living in a Changing World 

The fields of all Sciences, but especially Earth Sciences, has been ignored for too many years when looking at the present day ecological dilemma and the ignorance of the natural benefits of our earth systems.  There have been many changes in our biosphere due to an increase in world population and neglect to respecting the planet's natural resources.  Most notably the last 50 years of humans burning  fossil fuels have increased CO2 changes into our biosphere causing erratic and dangerous conditions and climatic behaviors.  Many Politicians unfortunately do not care or take into account the long term suffering caused by these changes in our biosphere that is now obvious throughout the entire planet.

Questions:

Will the baby boom generation be able to pass onto future generations a stable biosphere and reduce the production of CO2 into our atmosphere and water?  

                                                                and also 

Will this generation pass on future climatic events that will cause an increase in cost to everyone's insurance premiums for buildings, medical cost, relocation cost, the extinction of many species, and anxiety and fear based upon our weather forecast that is changing the world's view of not having a safe Community to possibly live long term by establishing roots in a Community or simply a place to retire? 

Please reference this site below and other references within as a good place to start.   

https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/

The Firm of Mark R. Fitzsimmons, Architect is reaching out and establishing communication with other Businesses and Organizations in establishing support for designing healthier communities throughout the planet.  His Firm will review and respond to Environmental, Cultural, Historical and Social concerns that will help shape the Community interest, involvement in energy independence, equality and prosperity of land investment towards a thoughtful and detailed ecological economy.        

Please contact me for further discussion.