According to a recent report by Eurofound, published by The Guardian, half of young European adults are living with their parents. The phenomenon was commonly observed among Mediterranean countries, but it has now expanded to the rest of Europe.

The survey reveals that the percentage of people aged between 18 to 30 still living with their parents has reached 48%, (36.7 million people) due to the rising unemployment and deprivation during the last five years of economic crisis. The data show that the phenomenon has increased in countries such as Sweden, Denmark, France, Belgium and Austria. In Italy, almost 79% of young adults are living with their parents. In Greece the percentage of young adults living with their parents has increased from 37% in 2007  to 46% in 2011.

Anna Ludwinek, one of the researchers stated that low life satisfaction and a very high level of deprivation and social exclusion are recorded in multi-generational families. The  phenomenon of adults living in their family house has raised concerns about birthrates and demographics in Europe.

Eurofound reveals that 49% of young European adults are living in households experiencing deprivation. In 2011, 27% of young adults were living in a “mid level” deprivation family, meaning they could not replace old furniture, invite friends over or could not afford holidays. The biggest rise in deprivation for young adults is recorded in Greece (+15 points) Spain (+20) and the UK (+10).

Germany, Netherlands, Ireland and the UK have the lowest rates of young adults living with their parents.