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Living with your parents has its perks. Free laundry, zero rent, and dinner is always on the table.
It’s fun when you are 15. But is it still fun when you are 35? For a record number of Europeans, the “Mum and Dad’s Hotel” is not a luxury— it is an economic necessity.
The latest data shows the average European now leaves home at 26.2 years old.
But statistics lie. If you live in Finland, you are likely independent by 21. But in Croatia, you are stuck in your childhood bedroom until you are over 30. It is the same story in Spain, Greece, Italy and Slovakia.
And the numbers?
Just between 2020 and 2025, rents in Lisbon exploded by 81%. Prague jumped 73%. Even “affordable” cities like Warsaw are now becoming out of reach. That is almost an extra rent on top of your monthly rent.
It is fine to rebel in your teens, but what happens if you cannot escape that stage? Oxford University’s Progressive Politics Research Network paper suggests this crisis is eroding support for the centre-left and fuelling anti-establishment sentiment.
Housing is technically a national issue — the EU isn’t supposed to touch it.
But the pressure is so high, Ursula von der Leyen appointed Dan Jørgensen, the first-ever Commissioner for Housing, to intervene. But let us be honest: bureaucracy moves slowly, and rents move fast.
Anyway, I have to go. My mum is calling me for dinner. And yes – I already washed my hands.