Sixty-eight percent of workers overall in a recent survey said they believe that they could work until they retire and still not have enough money to be financially secure in retirement, according to a new report from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.

That’s an important nugget of information for providers who hope to attract people who can pay for senior living using their private funds. And it suggests that the need for affordable senior housing and middle-market solutions will not be going away any time soon.

The report about the study, “An Uncertain Future: Retirement Prospects of 4 Generations,” was released last week and was produced in collaboration with the Transamerica Institute. It was based on an online survey conducted by The Harris Poll between Sept. 11 and Oct. 17 among a nationally representative sample of 10,009 adults. A subsample of 5,493 workers employed by for-profit companies included 702 members of Generation Z, 2,271 millennials, 1,808 members of Gen X, 691 baby boomers and 21 members of the Silent Generation.

A couple of other things that struck me in reading the results were the expected retirement age for the various generations looked at by the researchers and the percentage of members of younger generations who have experience as unpaid caregivers.

For instance, 57% of participating baby boomers (turning 61 to 79 this year) said they expect to retire at age 70 or older (some already are retired, of course) or do not plan to retire at all. And 39% of Gen Xers (turning 45 to 60 this year) expect to retire at age 70 or older or do not plan to retire at all, and 56% plan to continue working in retirement.

Those plans could inform senior living community design — work spaces, anyone? — and programming, among other matters. And could they add some time to the average move-in age?

Additionally, 41% of millennial workers (turning 29 to 44 this year) are currently serving or have served as caregivers for relatives or friends during their careers, most typically their parents. And 49% of Gen Z (turning 13 to 28 this year) workers either are currently serving or have served as caregivers for relatives or friends during their working careers, often for grandparents or parents.

Due to those responsibilities, 89% of the millennials and 90% of the Gen Zers who are caregivers said they have made one or more adjustments to their employment — such as missing days of work, reducing their hours, forgoing a promotion or quitting a job. Overall, 17% of millennials and 23% of Gen Zers also said that supporting their parents is a financial priority.

Those responsibilities and priorities could affect their ability to save for retirement and to afford senior living, although members of those younger generations have several more years during which they can save.

One thing that all generations surveyed had in common: The majority believed that their parents’ generation had an easier time in achieving financial security than they have had or will have, ranging from 73% of baby boomers to 81% for millennials and members of Gen X to 83% of Gen Zers.

Additional survey results are available here.

Lois A. Bowers is the editor of McKnight’s Senior Living. Read some of her other columns here. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at Lois_Bowers.