Economy
Sections
Highlight
Sections
Highlight
Clara Alba
Madrid
Wednesday, 14 August 2024, 16:38
Opciones para compartir
Rents are soaring in Spain and wages are making it virtually impossible to keep up with the rising cost of living in the current inflationary cycle. The serious problem of access to housing is taking its toll especially on the young, who are unable to leave the family home to start more independent living. The same goes even for those in gainful employment. This is according to a report by the Consejo de la Juventud, a national independent body and voice for the country's youth, which flags up that seven out of every ten people aged 16 to 29 years with a job and a regular salary still live at home with their parents.
It is true that the emancipation rate (young people leaving the family home) has risen by one point in the last year to the current 17%, the best figure since the first half of 2020, thanks to improved employment and rising wages.
However, the figure is still far from the 18.7% reached before the pandemic. Furthermore, the gap widens even further when measured from the peak of more than 26% that was exceeded before the bursting of the housing bubble in 2007 and the subsequent economic crisis from 2008.
Since 2007, things have changed a lot for this age group. "Despite the improvement in emancipation data, we are doing so in worse conditions," says the spokesperson for the youth council. "We have to move away from home, forced by the lack of decent employment in places where housing is more affordable and by the lack of quality housing in places where employment is available".
The problem is that the effort to leave the family home has become practically superhuman in order to compensate for the cost of renting a flat with an average wage. According to data from the youth council, the average rental cost is around 968 euros per month, 88 euros more than just a year ago. The data thus show that each young person has to spend 92.1% of their expected salary on putting a roof over their heads. This seriously shoots down the unwritten rule that the cost of housing should not exceed one third of a person's monthly income.
It is not only about where to live. Utilities have also risen by 17.3% in the last year. So even renting a room instead of a whole house does not save young people from spending 30% of their salary on independent living. Specifically, the median price for renting just a room is 380 euros per month, 36.2% of a young person's typical net monthly salary. This percentage rises to 40% in some provincial cities, such as Malaga, Seville, Barcelona, Valencia, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Palma de Mallorca.
The study also points out that those known as 'ninis' (young people who neither study or work nor have the inclination to do either) "only" represent 2.1% of young people classed as 'inactive' in Spain (a total of 70,831 people). Meanwhile, the report draws attention to the young people who study and work at the same time, whose percentage rose from 32.9% in the second half of 2022 to 34.1% by the end of 2023, being higher among women (almost four out of ten) than among men (three out of ten).
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Reporta un error en esta noticia
Necesitas ser suscriptor para poder votar.