Vienna, April 18, 2026 \u2014 The figures from Great Britain read like a damning indictment of an entire generation: 35 percent of men between the ages of 20 and 34 still live in their parents' homes. The highest figure since record-keeping began in 2007. What British media outlets frame as a charming anecdote about spoiled millennials reveals, upon closer examination, a tectonic shift in our societies\u2014with dramatic consequences for Austria as well.<\/p>\n
The official narrative is convenient: young people are too demanding, too comfortable, too unwilling to make sacrifices. A 28-year-old is quoted by the BBC as saying he is \u201athe lucky one\u2018 \u2013 because he is allowed to live with his parents. But this portrayal obscures the real causes. Rents in British cities have doubled since 2010. In Vienna, they rose by over 70 percent in the same period. At the same time, entry-level salaries have stagnated, while fixed-term contracts and bogus self-employment have become the norm. Anyone wanting to rent an apartment at 25 today often needs three months' rent as a deposit \u2013 money that simply isn't available.<\/p>\n
The real estate industry has been celebrating rising prices for years. Investment funds are buying up entire apartment blocks, and Airbnb is removing thousands of apartments from the market. In Austria, the wealthiest ten percent of households own over 60 percent of real estate assets. This concentration is politically desired \u2013 or at least tolerated. After all, who builds affordable housing when luxury renovations promise triple returns? Politicians are responding with symbolic measures: housing subsidies that hardly anyone receives. Rent caps with so many exceptions that they remain ineffective. And time and again, the reference to the \u201apersonal responsibility\u2018 of those affected.<\/p>\n
The consequences extend far beyond housing issues. People who are still living in their childhood bedrooms at 30 don't start families. Birth rates in Europe continue to fall. Psychologists warn of a \u201aprolonged adolescence\u2018 with long-term effects on mental health. And politically? A generation systematically denied the path to independence will eventually stop believing in the system. The electoral success of populist parties among young men is no coincidence. In Austria, over 30 percent of those under 30 voted for protest parties in the last national election. Those who have nothing to lose vote differently.<\/p>\n
On one side are those who benefit from the real estate boom \u2013 investors, heirs, those who want to maintain the status quo. On the other is a generation that is relegated to being \u201anest-builders\u2018 while simultaneously being denied any chance of independence. The British figures are not an isolated case; they are a European phenomenon. In Austria too, one in four young adults now lives with their parents. The question is not whether this generation will rebel at some point \u2013 but when and how. YANUS will continue to monitor the developments.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mehr als jeder dritte junge Mann zwischen 20 und 34 lebt noch bei den Eltern \u2013 Rekordwert seit fast zwei Jahrzehnten. Was als pers\u00f6nliches Versagen verkauft wird, ist in Wahrheit das Symptom eines Systems, das junge Menschen systematisch vom Erwachsenwerden abh\u00e4lt.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[48,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oesterreich","category-politik"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n-150x150.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n-300x200.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n-768x512.jpg","large":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n-1024x682.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n-1536x1024.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n-18x12.jpg","colormag-highlighted-post":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n.jpg","colormag-featured-post-medium":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n.jpg","colormag-featured-post-small":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n.jpg","colormag-featured-image":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n.jpg","colormag-default-news":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n.jpg","colormag-featured-image-large":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"YANUS Editorial Office","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b487030a986b1d9d5c67155d60d81207922ca850833e12b088ef859f100684b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Mehr als jeder dritte junge Mann zwischen 20 und 34 lebt noch bei den Eltern \u2013 Rekordwert seit fast zwei Jahrzehnten. Was als pers\u00f6nliches Versagen verkauft wird, ist in Wahrheit das Symptom eines Systems, das junge Menschen systematisch vom Erwachsenwerden abh\u00e4lt.","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u00d6sterreich","Politik"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":170,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":3,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n.jpg",1880,1253,false],"medium":["https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hotel-mama-als-dauerl-sung-wenn-eine-generation-n-150x150.jpg",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"YANUS Redaktion","author_link":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/en\/author\/kb\/"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b487030a986b1d9d5c67155d60d81207922ca850833e12b088ef859f100684b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"\u00d6sterreich<\/a> Politik<\/a>","yoast_head":"\n