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ARCHIVED - Only 16 per cent of under-30s in Murcia have flown the nest – maybe they just don’t want to?
The Youth Council blames job insecurity and high rental costs for so few young people leaving homes
The Youth Council of Spain has published a report this week which concludes that in the Region of Murcia only 16.3 per cent of young people aged between 16 and 29 have flown the nest and gone to live away from their parents, one of the lowest figures among the 17 regions of Spain, citing as the main reason the difficulties in securing stable and well-paid employment.
It has always been the case in Murcia that young people move away from home significantly later than in northern Europe, and the Youth Council insist that the root cause is their lack of earning power and financial security combined with rising rental costs, but it is reasonable to suspect that other factors related to the nature of family life in Spain also play a significant part. The data produced are interesting and enlightening, but they also tell only part of the story and it is worth looking at them in a little more detail to understand the implications more clearly.
The rate of emancipation under the age of 30 in Murcia is the fifth lowest in the country, a fact which is due partly to an unemployment rate in this age group of over 20 per cent, while the Youth Council consider that 36.4 per cent of the people in this group are “poor”. At the same time, the average annual income among under-30s in Murcia is under 10,000 euros, and certainly this would make purchasing a residential property a difficult proposition to entertain.
On the other hand, though, if 36 per cent of young adults are “poor”, then 64 per cent are not, and among those 64 per cent there are clearly more aspects to take into account if only 16 per cent have moved out of the family home. Wages are salaries would appear to be unlikely to be the only reason, given that in general terms women earn less than men but the emancipation rate of the two sexes in Murcia is over 20 per cent for women and under 15 per cent for men.
Again and again, observers coming to Spain from different cultures and societies voice the opinion that many young people are lazy simply don’t want to fly the nest, and that parents are less keen than in the rest of Europe to see them go. At first sight, it seems eminently viable for two young people earning just under 1,000 a month each to rent a small apartment in the Region of Murcia as a couple and still live well above the poverty line, but very few see any reason to do so.
It is easy to be critical and assume that this is simply down to them preferring to leave matters such as washing, cooking and paying the rent or mortgage to their parents, but at the same time this arrangement is not necessarily one to be seen in a negative light. In Spain it is far from unusual for people in their 20s and 30s to lead semi-independent lives while living under the same roof as their parents, and if the parents are not unhappy with this perhaps it is a way of life to be envied rather than looked down at!
One example of the data underlying the conclusions of the report is as follows: the average monthly wage received by young people is 933 euros, while the average apartment rental price is 880 euros. Obviously, at first sight these numbers make renting impossible.
But for a small apartment in the Region of Murcia that rental cost would doubtless be lower, even in the regional capital: a quick online search reveals 3-bedroomed flats in the Infante district of the city of Murcia at 600 euros a month, and if shared between two or more people the price becomes easily manageable.
Of course there is no denying the importance of financial security when young people weigh up the pros and cons of leaving home, and while the proportion of people who do so continues to drop it is reasonable to conclude that rising rental costs play their part. But at the same time there is ample evidence to suggest that those who WANT to move out find ways to do so, by sharing accommodation, by opting for cheaper housing rather than their dream homes or by working, saving and making sacrifices.
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