Some 40 per cent of Irish young people aged 25 to 34 years of age and in employment are still living with their parents, according to a new study.
A new report from Eurofound found that in Ireland, where rents have doubled since 2013, there has been a 13-percentage-point rise in working young people living with their parents, from 27 per cent to 40 per cent of the cohort.
Housing is one of the main obstacles to young people becoming independent the report states, with Europe’s housing crisis reverberating into various aspects of younger adults’ lives – including mental wellbeing.
A five-percentage point difference in employment rates between those living in the parental home (73 per cent) and those living independently (78 per cent), among the 30-34 age group, also shows that employment alone is not a sure-fire way to gain independence.
'Locked out of the housing market'
Eurofound's report, "Becoming adults: Young people in a post-pandemic world", found that, while there are positive signs for young people in terms of employment, many find themselves locked out of the housing market and unable to establish the independence required to have families of their own.
There are striking differences between Member States. In Nordic countries, it is much less common for people in their 20s and 30s to live with their parents than in Southern Europe.
This is partly cultural but can also be attributed to the precarious employment situation of temporary workers in Southern Europe.
Young people are more likely to be in temporary employment and this lack of employment security can prevent them from securing accommodation outside the family home.
The report shows that just 2 per cent of 25–34-year-olds in employment in Sweden and Finland live with their parents, while it is 65 per cent in Croatia, 57 per cent in Greece, and 52 per cent in Portugal.
Additional analysis shows that, on average, the proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds in employment living in their parental home had risen from 24 per cent to 27 per cent between 2017 and 2022.
Other countries that recorded increases between 2017 and 2022 included Portugal, where the proportion rose from 41 per cent to 52 per cent, and Spain, where it increased from 35 per cent to 42 per cent.
In France, it rose from 10 per cent to 12 per cent, while Italy recorded a rise from 41 per cent to 48 per cent and Croatia from 58 per cent to 65 per cent.
Improvements
Other areas analysed in the report show some positive developments.
In 2022 the overall youth employment rate in the EU was close to 50 per cent, higher than at any time since 2007, and the percentage of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) was historically low at 11.7 per cent.
There are also signs of improvements in job quality for young people, with fewer involuntary temporary contracts, greater perceived job security and better work-life balance than during the pandemic years.
Young people are also less satisfied with their jobs than older cohorts and would like more autonomy at work.
Nearly half of young people want to change jobs within a year, and the proportions are higher among those never able to work from home and those with insecure contracts.
By Kenneth Fox
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