The data is so clear on this. Among adults 65+ in the U.S., a much larger share of women are single (nearly 49%) than men (about 21%), according to Pew Research Center. Given that 55% of those 65+ are women, this means that 74% of the people 65+ who are single are women. According to the Older Americans 2024 report, about 19.6% of men and 32.6% of women aged 65+ live alone (Aging Stats). Given that 55% of those 65+ are women, this means 67% of the people 65+ living alone are women. What’s particularly interesting is these numbers spike to 74% and 67% starting around age 65 as it’s much more evenly split amongst the genders pre-65.
Given that nearly 70% of MEA alums are women and the average age of our alums is 60 (average age of our new students is 54), you can see why MEA is motivated to do something. So many of our female alums tell us that they’ve been talking with friends (including their fellow MEA alums) about living together later in life. How can we turn that dream into a reality?
We’re offering our first workshop on this topic January 15-18: Golden Girls, Santa Fe Style: Shared Homes, Shared Futures, & A New Way Live. It’s open to any woman curious about what it would be like to co-live with a collection of other women in a beautifully-furnished Santa Fe home (so, non-alums are welcome). Not only will we explore what co-living would be like, we’ll also spend time in Santa Fe at Ten Thousand Waves Japanese spa for communal bathing and Canyon Road for art shopping. We’ll also tour our Rising Circle Ranch and the two homes we’ve purchased.
My guess is that this workshop will fill up so listen to that inner voice who’s been wondering about this way of life, and sign up soon.
-Chip
P.S. If the topic of co-living interests you, check out this 2023 podcast episode with Ezra Klein called The Quiet Catastrophe Brewing in our Social Lives. Ezra thought it was relevant enough to republish it last week.