‘Solo agers’ are a growing group. Changes that would help them could help everyone

Solo agers are a growing group -

Solo Agers Growing: Changes Help Everyone

Solo Agers Are a Growing Demographic Reshaping Aging

Solo agers are a growing segment of the population, fundamentally changing how society approaches elder care. These individuals navigate their later years without traditional support networks of adult children or spouses. As Baby Boomers and Generation X members age, this trend expands, prompting calls for systemic reforms that could benefit all citizens.

Understanding the Solo Aging Experience

Ailene Gerhardt has spent years collecting personal accounts from people on this path. Working as a patient advocate, she helps individuals manage healthcare needs and navigate complex medical systems. Over recent years, Gerhardt has encountered more clients growing older independently. Despite this shift, healthcare institutions continue operating with outdated assumptions about family availability.

"Instead of looking at the concept of solo aging as something that's a crisis to be solved — it's not a crisis to be solved," she says. "It's a reality to be supported."

To address this gap, Gerhardt established Navigating Solo, a network dedicated to providing community and assistance to older adults living without traditional family structures. Her organization helps members plan for housing needs, financial security, and transportation to medical visits, frequently connecting them with professional services.

Systemic Changes for an Inclusive Future

According to research published by AARP in 2023, approximately one out of every ten adults beyond age fifty resides independently without either a partner or offspring. Shifting cultural attitudes toward relationships and parenthood suggest this figure will continue climbing. Many individuals now choose singlehood deliberately, contributing to the demographic transformation.

Gerhardt envisions healthcare environments that accommodate people aging alone rather than expecting them to adapt. Currently, medical facilities often assume patients have someone available to collect them following procedures requiring anesthesia. When that person becomes unavailable, patients sometimes postpone necessary treatments entirely.

"In both my solo aging advocacy hat and my healthcare advocate [hat], like, that is just infuriating," she says, "that people do not have the support they need to maintain their health in a productive way."

She draws parallels to accessibility improvements that initially served specific populations but ultimately benefited everyone. Curb cuts, originally championed by disability rights advocates for wheelchair users, now assist parents with strollers, cyclists, and countless others seeking convenient street access.

Terminology and Generational Perspectives

Sara Zeff Geber has documented this experience for over a decade through her writing and public presentations. She regularly addresses legal and financial professionals, emphasizing that not every person belongs to a couple or has an adult daughter ready to provide assistance. Geber credits herself with popularizing the term "solo aging," which she considers more optimistic than the earlier label "elder orphans."

Jason Resendez, leading the National Alliance for Caregiving as its chief executive, anticipates that future generations will receive stronger governmental backing. He notes increasing awareness that numerous people age independently. However, he warns that upcoming reductions in federal funding for home-based services and Medicaid complicate efforts to remain in one's own residence without family caregivers to fill service gaps.

"I think it's when we are at that boiling point, that maybe we'll have policymakers finally recognize, 'Hey, this isn't just an individual responsibility.'"

Carl Smigielski represents this evolving reality personally. At sixty-one years old, he lives alone and does not anticipate having a dedicated caregiver himself. Previously, he served as the primary support for his husband Moshe, a Vietnam War veteran who passed away in 2019 following a multi-year battle with Alzheimer's disease.

As Resendez observes, American culture traditionally emphasizes self-reliance. Yet with more people aging alone, social safety nets face mounting pressure. The question remains whether society will proactively redesign systems or wait until crisis forces change. Whatever foundation emerges today will shape experiences for decades to come.