Almost half of Europe's young adults living with parents, survey finds
Almost half of Europe's young adults are at home with their parents, a record, survey shows
Almost half of Europe's young adults are living with their parents, new data suggests - a record level of dependency that has sobering social and demographic implications for the continent.
One of the most comprehensive social surveys of 28 European countries revealed yesterday that the percentage of people aged 18-30 living with their parents had risen to 48 per cent, or 36.7 million people, by 2011, in tandem with levels of deprivation and unemployment that surged during five years of economic crisis.
The data from EU agency Eurofound shows that few countries are immune and that the phenomenon is not exclusive to the debt-laden Mediterranean rim.
The figures show large rises in the number of stay-at-home twenty-somethings in countries such as Sweden, Denmark, France, Belgium and Austria. In Italy, nearly four-fifths (79 per cent) of young adults were living with their parents.
However, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom saw decreases in their numbers over that period. In Britain, the figure fell from 30 per cent to 26 per cent.
One of the report's authors, Anna Ludwinek, said: "The situation of youth has really fundamentally changed. And it looks different from the situation of their parents and grandparents.
"It's not only the world of work that has changed but society is changing, so the transitions are becoming much more unpredictable; people are not having a job for life or live in one place for life."