[size=75:2599reis]novinite 7 March 2010

Bulgarians Most Likely to Live at Home into Their 30s in EU

Bulgarian young people are among the most likely to live at home with their parents well into their 20s and even their 30s, according to figures published by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical arm.

Males and females from Greece, Italy, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia trail slightly behind Bulgaria in terms of the average number of years spent living with their parents across the whole of the EU. According to the figures published recently, which date back to 2007, Bulgarian males take the dubious prize for living with their parents the longest in the EU, until the age of 31.5, while Bulgarian women tend to leave home somewhat earlier, at the age of 27.7.

Slovakian and Slovenian figures are similar, with the average age for Slovakia and Slovenia being 31.5 for males and 29.7 for females.

Although in all member states, men stay longer in the parental home than women, there is a wide range in the figures across the Union. At the other end of the spectrum to Bulgaria, in 2007 the average age for leaving home for men was 23.1 in Finland and 24.2 in both France and the Netherlands

For women, the average age was below 30 in all member states, ranging from 22 in Finland, 23.1 in France and 23.2 in the Netherlands to 29.8 in Slovakia, 29.6 in Slovenia and 29.5 in Italy.

Representatives of the European Commission have commented that they are well aware of the challenges connected with young people living longer with their parents, which impacts birth rates and ageing population, among other matters.

The Commission also announced recently its intention to carry out a study on youth autonomy in order to gain a better insight into the complexity of factors that help young people through the transition phase to adulthood and setting up their own households.