Spain Youth Housing Costs Reach 98.7 Percent of Average Salary

Spain's housing access crisis continues to push young people further from moving out of the family home. A report published on Friday by the Spanish Youth Council found that a young employee would have to allocate 98.7 percent of their net salary to rent a home alone.

The average net salary of a young person is around 1,190 euros a month, while the average rent for a home comes to 1,176 euros. Moving out means becoming poorer for young people, the report states.

The labour market and the housing market have stopped speaking the same language for young people, the report warns. Access to housing has become one of the main fault lines of inequality between generations. The problem no longer affects only those who are unemployed or in situations of exclusion, but also part of the working young population.

Even in work, a huge proportion of young people cannot build an independent life without falling into precariousness, over-indebtedness or dependence on their families, the report notes.

Rising housing costs are also driving room rentals and shared arrangements as an alternative for those who cannot afford the cost of living alone. Sharing a flat accounts for 33.6 percent of the average salary. The report also underlines that financial support from families is increasingly what determines who can move out and who cannot, in a context in which buying a home remains out of reach for much of the young population.

The Spanish Youth Council is calling for public measures to increase the supply of affordable housing and make it easier for young people to access decent accommodation. The problem is structural and is having serious consequences for an entire generation, it warns.