<h6><strong>Adriana Piñeiro</strong></h6> <h4><strong>In 2024, young people in the EU left their parents' homes at an average age of 26.2 years, slightly lower than the 26.3 years in 2023. Since 2002, this average age has fluctuated slightly, from a low of 26.1 years in 2019 to a high of 26.8 years in 2006, according to data published by Eurostat.</strong></h4> The highest average ages for leaving the parental home, starting at 30, were recorded in Croatia (31.3 years), Slovakia (30.9 years), Greece (30.7 years), Italy (30.1 years), and Spain (30.0 years). In contrast, the lowest average ages were recorded in Finland (21.4 years), Denmark (21.7 years), and Sweden (21.9 years). At a time when housing costs are a subject of constant public debate, data show that young people are somewhat more affected by this expense. In 2024, 9.7% of young people (aged 15-29) in the EU lived in households that spent 40% or more of their disposable income on housing (housing cost overburden rate), while the same percentage for the total population was 8.2%. In 2024, considerable differences in this rate were observed among EU countries. Greece (30.3%) and Denmark (28.9%) recorded the highest rates of housing cost overburden, well above those of the Netherlands (15.3%), Germany (14.8%), and Sweden (13.5%). On the other hand, Croatia (2.1%), Cyprus (2.8%), and Slovenia (3.0%) had the lowest rates of housing cost overburden. In 16 EU countries, the housing cost burden was higher among 15- to 29-year-olds than among the general population. The largest difference between these two groups was 14.3 percentage points (pp) in Denmark, followed by the Netherlands at 8.4 pp. In some countries where young people tend to move out earlier, such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and Finland, housing cost burden is higher for young people. Countries where young people leave home later, such as Cyprus, Croatia, and Italy, tend to record lower levels of housing cost burden. However, in Greece, despite young people moving out later, housing cost burden remains high for them.
