Housing independence pathways in Europe: the influence of parents’ socio-economic background in times of economic stress

The housing independence of young adults has become morecomplex and uncertain in Europe over the last decades. Previousresearch suggests that patterns of independent living and housingdemand have become more differentiated and socially stratified,especially since the Great Financial Crisis (GFC). The decline inhomeownership and the availability of social housing has beenaccompanied by an increase in private renting and sharedaccommodation. Moreover, young adults have increasingly reliedon their parents for both material and non material support toovercome constraints and achieve independent living. This paperexamines how the relationship between parental background andboth young adults’ leaving home, and their first housing tenurechanged during the GFC in different European housing contexts.Using longitudinal data from EU-SILC (2008–2018), the resultsshow that parental background still plays a significant stratifyingrole in the housing independence of young adults from the pre –to the post-crisis period, particularly in terms of first tenure statusrather than home-leaving. The influence of the housing context onboth housing market opportunities and the role of parents inyoung adults’ independence shapes the shift from co-residencewith parents to living independently in either homeownership orrented accommodation.