No place like home for 67% of young adults

Report lays out reality of the housing crisis

-  DANNY DE VAAL

IRELAND has one of the highest numbers of 18 to 34-year-olds still living at home in Europe, a report has found.

The data, which was published by Eurostat, shows 64.1 per cent of people in that age group last year hadn't moved out yet - which is a nearly 20 per cent increase since 2014.

The figures are higher than countries such as Bulgaria, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands and Germany.

But countries such as Spain, Croatia, Italy, and Greece have higher percentages.

In 2014, Ireland's figure stood at 44.6 per cent and has increased every year since, except in 2017 and 2018. In 2021, Ireland's percentage was 62.4 per cent.

Speaking yesterday, journalist Brenda Power told Newstalk: "My eldest fella moved out about six months ago to live with his girlfriend.

"I think that's probably the only scenario in which you will get adult kids to move if they're in a relationship and being at home just isn't practical anymore.

"But if they're not, you can't blame them for staying put for as long as they can." It comes as a separate study found homeownership across the EU between 2012 and 2020 has declined.