Last year, a third (32%) of young people aged 15 to 29 wanted to move, whether by buying a house or changing their rent. But they did not do so for budgetary reasons, reveals a new article from Statistics Canada.
Young people are mainly renters (63% of them) and a significant part of their budget is devoted to rent. In the 15 to 24 year old group, who do not live with a parent, 23% of gross income was spent on this. For the entire population, the average is more like 16%.
The pressure is obviously even greater for urban residents. In the Toronto market, for example, young people spend on average 31% of their income on their rent.
According to Professor Jacques Hamel, beyond the disappointment of not being able to access property, it is a stage of their life that is compromised.
“Having housing, having a roof over your head and, above all, living independently of your parents is an absolutely crucial stage in youth,” says the professor in the sociology department at the University of Montreal.
Unable to buy a house or fearing not being able to pay their rent, more and more young people are opting for shared accommodation. Pollsters have noted that there is the strongest growth in room sharing in the country among young people in their 20s. We are talking here about living with someone who is not family.
Because, obviously, it is also young people who live the most with a parent: 43% of Canadians aged 20 to 29 lived with (at least) one parent in 2021.
We also noted that this was the population group that had the lowest rate of satisfaction with their housing.
The economic context has repercussions on the whole of life.
Statistics Canada analysts note that, in our twenties, we increasingly cite economic reasons, and even more specifically this difficulty in having access to suitable housing, to justify the decision not to have children or intend to have it.
“In 2022, 38% of young adults [aged 20 to 29] did not think they could afford to have a child in the next three years, while 32% did not think they would have access to suitable housing to start a family during this period,” estimates Statistics Canada.
Between 2016 and 2022, optimism declined by 15% among young people. This information is taken from the Living Framework for Canada, where different determinants of well-being were measured, including money.
For example, the feeling of belonging, which contributes to well-being, is lower among young people, unlike the feeling of loneliness which is higher.
This pessimism does not surprise Professor Jacques Hamel, who is able to measure a rising level of anxiety among his students.
Furthermore, continues Jacques Hamel, it is wrong to think that the labor shortage is an Eldorado for young people. “It’s still difficult for young people to find employment permanently, without it being a sign of precariousness,” he says.
This, continues the professor, contributes to this concern. Furthermore, according to him, a large proportion of young people study with little hope of finding a job in their field. Which also undermines morale.
Statistics Canada notes a steady decline in the level of well-being among young people, a phenomenon that sadly began well before the pandemic. Several factors that have nothing to do with the economy are cited to explain the situation.
And the future does not necessarily portend brightening up.
“The difficulties young people face do not disappear once they reach the age of 30,” reads the Statistics Canada document. On the contrary, they persist and may permanently interfere with their access, as adults, to the standard of living that they may have expected as they grew up. »
