Senior Living Affordability in 2022: Sunbound’s Year in Review
Welcome to the first annual Sunbound Year in Review, where we’re providing an in-depth look into trends in senior living based on surveys conducted by the Sunbound team. We gathered data from over 1,000 respondents who are either currently living in senior housing themselves, or they are helping a loved one pay for and manage their senior care.
Our results showed that individuals face significant financial and logistical hurdles when paying for their own or their loved one’s senior care. Because of the often high monthly cost of senior living, we found that a significant portion of senior living residents have multiple individuals help pay for their care each month (often family members, and in particular adult children). The need for multiple individuals to help pay for senior living care can often present further logistical problems, as families struggle to coordinate and track multiple payments throughout the month. Add to this that many senior living communities do not provide an online payment portal, and the logistical hurdles become even more difficult for families and their loved ones. We anticipate that as the senior population increases, and more and more individuals are paying for their own (or a loved one’s) care, senior living operators will continue to adopt digital methods to make paying rent easier, more streamlined, and more affordable.
To learn more about Sunbound’s 2022 Senior Living Survey and see more specific information and results, read the rest of our report below. To continue learning about senior living follow the Sunbound blog for new posts each week, or email us at info@sunboundhomes.com to learn more.
Senior living residents have trouble paying rent on time
Issues surrounding coordinating and making payments, as well as the fact that many retired individuals receive their income (from sources such as social security) at various times throughout the month, cause many senior living residents to be unable to make their full rent payment on the first of the month. Our survey found that a strong majority of 65% of respondents paid their monthly senior living bill after the 6th day of the month, with 25% of respondents paying a late fee for doing so.
In addition to having trouble making senior living rental payments on time, many seniors and their families often pay their monthly rent in multiple installments, with 65% of respondents stating that they paid their monthly rent in 2 or more installments each month (with nearly three-quarters - 72% - of respondents stating they were charged additional fees for paying in installments).
Many individuals are paying
Because senior living residents often have trouble making their full monthly rental payments, many senior living residents rely on one or more individuals to help pay their senior living expenses each month.
Our data showed that a significant portion of senior living residents had additional individuals other than themselves helping to pay for their care each month. Roughly 75% of our respondents stated that there were at least 2 people involved with helping pay for their monthly care, and 20% of respondents reporting that 3 or more people were involved with helping pay for their care each month. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of people helping pay for care were family members of the senior living resident, with their adult children being the most likely people to help pay for care.
Payment technology often confusing
While many respondents stated that monthly senior care payments involved 2 or more individuals, few found that they had an easy method of doing so with 40% of respondents stating that they had difficulty coordinating payments between multiple people each month, and a quarter of respondents stating that they found their community’s existing payment portal to be difficult and unintuitive to use (out of the 60% of respondents who stated that they used an online payment portal to pay their monthly senior living rent).
Senior living residents and their families want automated solutions
Senior living residents and their families are very interested in using, and paying for, automated technology solutions to help address these core challenges of coordinating and making senior living rental payments at the beginning of each month. Respondents overwhelmingly agreed that they would prefer to be able to pay their monthly senior living expenses in installments, with 80% stating that they would prefer flexible payments each month. Not only did most respondents state that they would like to be pay their rent in multiple installments each month, three-quarters of respondents stated that they would pay for that opportunity.
In addition, 9 out of 10 respondents stated that they use some form of automatic payment each month. For some respondents, that comes in the form of an online payment portal. For other senior living residents, however, automatic payments are conducted offline by communities using pre-approved bank accounts provided by senior living residents and their families. Regardless of the method, senior living residents and their families are comfortable with using automatic payment methods each month.
Senior living residents often face a variety of hurdles that can prevent them from making their rental payments at the beginning of each month, from irregular sources of income to the difficulty of coordinating payments across multiple payers. And while some solutions exist for these challenges, residents and their families are eager for more comprehensive solutions.
Methodology: Sunbound collected data from 1,096 individuals - residents, family members, and operators of senior living communities - across the United States. The data was collected via SurveyMonkey and from interviews conducted by Sunbound staff in September and October of 2022. For the purposes of this report, senior living is defined as 55+ housing communities offering at least one of independent living, assisted living, or memory or nursing care.
While seniors and their family members may sometimes face hurdles in paying for senior living each month, the good news is that Sunbound is here to help. Sunbound is the best way to pay for senior living each month, by providing the option for flexible payments and multiple payers. If you want to learn more about how Sunbound can help make senior living more affordable for you or your loved one, send us an email at info@sunboundhomes.com or request a demo of our payment software to learn more. Sunbound is the best way to pay for senior living and is on a mission to make senior living affordable for everyone.
