According to Pew Research, roughly 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 every day, and more than half eventually will need some form of long-term care. The population of those aged 85 or more years is projected to triple in the next couple of decades.
Senior care expert Loe Hornbuckle said there's a shortage of healthcare workers and caregivers across the board. Most of the elderly in assisted living right now are from the Depression area. Hornbuckle said they need Millennials to take these jobs to handle the Baby Boomers.
"Frankly, at this very moment, it seems like generationally that Millennials don't seem to be particularly interested in getting into care giving. The Millennials, as a generational size, are the only group large enough to sort of match the Baby Boomers," said Hornbuckle.
This is just the beginning of the healthcare explosion and will get worse in the next 10 years because the oldest Baby Boomer was born in 1946, so they're now 71. Hornbuckle said when you hit 80, is when assisted living options are needed.
“The hope is that point and time there’s going to be enough resources to get some of these 25 to 35, 40 year-old people to be more interested in those positions, because frankly, that’s the only place there’s enough numbers to care for as many Baby Boomers as there are going to be,” said Hornbuckle.
He hopes those from 25 to 40 years in age will get into the healthcare/assisted living careers to take care of those in 10 to 15 years. He’s seen a lot of Houston caregivers move up north.
“The more people that get into this business, the better because the demand is going to be so high, that current providers simply aren’t going to be able to keep up with the people that are going to be entering the market, because have about seven to 15 years, and then all the sudden, the Baby Boomers are all going to start moving into these types of properties,” said Hornbuckle.
He said one-on-one personal healthcare is the biggest drain on resources. We’ll soon see elderly healthcare shortages and price will be driven up.
Hornbuckle advised if you’re 60 years or older, you need to sit down with your financial planner to determine long-term care policies to choose where you want to live versus being forced into government-type facilities.