Transcription

• Speaker #0

  Welcome to the Generation Z Shift conversation. This weekly podcast decodes Generation Z and Generation Alpha for leaders, brands, and changemakers. Based on the research and articles of Benoiv and Kauenberg, a European expert on Generation Z, Generation Alpha, and brand culture, each episode helps you understand the Generation Z reshaping how we work, consume, connect, and live. Because the future isn't coming. It's already here.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah, and today's topic really proves that point, I think.

• Speaker #0

  Oh, absolutely. So today we are doing a deep dive into a really fascinating multi-part series by Benoit van Koutenberg. And specifically, we're looking at his third article, which asks a pretty loaded question. Does Gen Z still dream of owning a home?

• Speaker #1

  Right. Which is something you hear debated like everywhere right now.

• Speaker #0

  Exactly. And for you listening, our mission today is to really figure out what's actually happening out there. We're pulling from massive brand new data sets. We've that. 2025 and 2026 reports from the OECD, Eurofound and Eurostat.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah. The real numbers, not just the, you know, the think pieces.

• Speaker #0

  Right. Because if you look at the real estate market, young people just aren't buying homes like they used to. So the big question for you to consider today is, have they just given up on the dream entirely or has the system literally just priced them out of independence?

• Speaker #1

  I mean, that is the million dollar question, isn't it? Or maybe the... Half million dollar question, depending on where you're trying to buy a house.

• Speaker #0

  Seriously. OK, let's unpack this, because there is this huge cultural assumption that Gen Z just, I don't know, cares less about property than previous Generation Z did.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah, the whole avocado toast narrative.

• Speaker #0

  Yes, exactly. Like they just want to be digital nomads or whatever. But honestly, it's like playing a video game where you've been told your whole life the objective is to buy a house. Right. Right. But then right as you start playing, the developers secretly. patched the game to make the final boss completely unbeatable with the starting gear they gave you.

• Speaker #1

  Oh, that is, yeah, that's a perfect way to describe it. And, you know, what's fascinating here is when you actually look at the 2025 OECD data, it completely destroys that narrative of them just not wanting it.

• Speaker #0

  Okay. What did the numbers actually say?

• Speaker #1

  Well, they looked at generation gap at the exact same age. So for people born around 1980, by the time they hit 29 years old. About 52% of them owned a home.

• Speaker #0

  Okay, 52%. Right. That makes sense.

• Speaker #1

  But for the people born around 1990, hitting that exact same age a decade later, that number plummeted to 41%.

• Speaker #0

  Wait, 41%. That's an 11% drop in just 10 years.

• Speaker #1

  11%.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah.

• Speaker #1

  And across multiple countries. You just don't see a structural shift that massive simply because a few million people decided they'd rather travel.

• Speaker #0

  Right. That's a systemic wall they're hitting.

• Speaker #1

  Exactly. And Eurofound's 2026 data explains exactly what that wall is made of. Since 2010, the EU house sale prices, they skyrocketed by 55.4%.

• Speaker #0

  55%.

• Speaker #1

  Oh, my gosh. Oh,

• Speaker #0

  my gosh.

• Speaker #1

  I know. And rents increased by 26.7% at the exact same time.

• Speaker #0

  So there's literally nowhere to hide.

• Speaker #1

  Nowhere. I mean, it's a perfect storm. You've got lower early career incomes. People are mentoring stable jobs later because they need more degrees. And all the jobs are in these super expensive cities. Add in tighter credit and the math just doesn't work.

• Speaker #0

  Wow. So the aspiration hasn't disappeared at all. I mean, wanting to own a home and mathematically being able to afford one are just, they're two completely different universes now.

• Speaker #1

  They really are. And that leaves us with a huge practical problem because if they can't buy and renting is basically extortionate. Where did they go?

• Speaker #0

  Well, right, which naturally leads us to the parental home, which, oh man, brings up so much baggage.

• Speaker #1

  Oh, totally. The stereotypes are endless.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah. I mean, in the early 2000s, there was this whole Tanguy stereotype named after that French and Belgian movie about the guy in his 20s who just refused to leave his parents' house because he had it so good.

• Speaker #1

  Oh, yeah. Doing his laundry, cooking his meals.

• Speaker #0

  Exactly. And then after the 2008 crash, we had the boomerang generation. So are we just seeing, like, Tangi 2.0 right now? Are they just too comfortable?

• Speaker #1

  Well, no. We really need to kill that stereotype right now. The Eurostat 2026 data is super clear on this. The EU average age for leaving home is 26.3. And guess what? It has basically hovered right around 26 since 2002.

• Speaker #0

  Wait, really? Since 2002? Because the media acts like everyone is suddenly staying home until they're 35.

• Speaker #1

  Right. But the average hasn't really budged. What you do see, though, are these massive regional disparities that explain a lot. Like, in Finland, the average age for leaving is 21.4. In Denmark, it's 21.8.

• Speaker #0

  OK, that's super young.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah. But then you look at Spain and Italy and it jumps to 30.2. In Croatia, it's 31.5.

• Speaker #0

  Wow. A 10-year difference just based on where you live in Europe? Why is it so vastly different?

• Speaker #1

  Because of the social systems. The Nordics have subsidized student housing and state support. In Southern Europe, wages are lower, youth unemployment is higher, and the state basically relies on the family home to act as the social safety net.

• Speaker #0

  So it's not about being pampered in Italy. It's just economic reality.

• Speaker #1

  Exactly. And the most telling stat, this is from Eurofound in 2023, they found that roughly 30 percent of Europeans aged 25 to 34 live with their parents. But when they asked them, only about 40 percent of those people would actually choose that arrangement if they had any other option.

• Speaker #0

  Oh, wow. So for you listening, just put yourself in those shoes. Imagine you've got a university degree. You're working a demanding full-time job, but renting a basic apartment would eat up like 60% of your paycheck.

• Speaker #1

  You'd be totally broke.

• Speaker #0

  Right. So living with your parents isn't a refusal to grow up. It's a calculated, highly rational economic strategy.

• Speaker #1

  That's exactly what it is. It's a trap, mostly. Housing affordability is the trap.

• Speaker #0

  OK, but obviously some people do leave, right? They move for work or whatever. If they can't afford their own place, how are they redefining what independence even looks like?

• Speaker #1

  Yeah, that's where we get into some really interesting territory.

• Speaker #0

  Because, I mean, in the past, adulthood felt like a light switch. You were off at your parents' house and then you moved into your own place and boom, the switch was on. You're an adult. But for Gen Z, it feels like it's a dimmer switch with like a dozen intermediate settings.

• Speaker #1

  I love that analogy. It's so true. And if we connect this to the bigger picture, you see all these new intermediate living arrangements popping up, like upskilling spaces.

• Speaker #0

  Oh, yeah. Those are everywhere now.

• Speaker #1

  Right. And Benoit actually talks about this. He spent part of the year living in a upskilling space in Barcelona to observe it firsthand. And, you know, yes, it offers community and flexibility at work. But for a huge chunk of people there, it's strictly a housing affordability strategy.

• Speaker #0

  See, that's wild because you look on Instagram and upskilling is marketed as this like ultra luxurious curated lifestyle.

• Speaker #1

  Oh, totally. The matcha lattes and the rooftop yoga.

• Speaker #0

  Exactly. But you're saying underneath that aesthetic, it's just the only way they can afford a bed in a major city.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah, pretty much. Just look at the pressure they're under. Trust at work 2024 data shows that 9.7% of Europeans aged 15 to 29 are spending at least 40% of their disposable income on housing.

• Speaker #0

  40%. That is suffocating.

• Speaker #1

  It is. And because of that, they're sacrificing space. Young people are way more likely to live in overcrowded housing. It's 26.5% of young people compared to just 16.9% for the total population.

• Speaker #0

  Wait, over a quarter are in overcrowded housing?

• Speaker #1

  Yes. So independence isn't this solo journey anymore. It's shared. It's flat sharing into your 30s, moving back home for a few months to save up, renting with a partner way earlier than you normally would just to split the bills.

• Speaker #0

  Right. Which... So what does this all mean for the rest of their lives? Because housing isn't just a roof over your head, right? It's the anchor for literally everything else.

• Speaker #1

  It dictates everything. And this is where Eurofound's findings get really heavy. Because young adults are stuck in this housing limbo. It's restricting their actual life paths. They found that between 20 and 39 percent of young adults whose living situations weren't what they wanted, they said it directly restricted their job or career choices.

• Speaker #0

  Wait, really? They're turning down jobs because of rent?

• Speaker #1

  Yep. They literally can't afford to live where the jobs are. And it gets deeper. More than one in six of them reported delaying having children entirely because of housing constraints.

• Speaker #0

  One in six?

• Speaker #1

  That's huge.

• Speaker #0

  That's huge.

• Speaker #1

  It's massive. We see all these headlines about Gen Z making these independent Generation Z choices to, you know, not have kids or get married later. But the root cause for so many of them is just... pure economic constraint.

• Speaker #0

  So for everyone listening, just think about the choices you've made in your own career or personal life. Like how many of those foundational choices would have been completely altered if your housing costs were suddenly 50% higher?

• Speaker #1

  It changes the entire trajectory of a life.

• Speaker #0

  It really does.

• Speaker #1

  Okay, here's where it gets really interesting. If working hard, getting the degree, and doing all these intermediate living steps isn't enough to guarantee a home anymore, What actually does?

• Speaker #0

  Yeah.

• Speaker #1

  And this is the uncomfortable part. It's the bank of mom and dad.

• Speaker #0

  Right. I mean, picture two 20something, same degree, same job, same exact salary. One buys a house and one doesn't. Why? Because the old formula of study, work hard, buy a home is just completely broken.

• Speaker #1

  It's totally broken. Both the OECD and Eurofound research point to this. Access to ownership is becoming completely tied to family wealth. If your parents can't help you with a massive deposit, all your professional success, it honestly might not be enough.

• Speaker #0

  Which is just deeply depressing.

• Speaker #1

  It is. And this raises an important question. Property is the main way households accumulate wealth. So if only the kids with wealthy parents can buy homes, then home ownership isn't about individual achievement anymore.

• Speaker #0

  Right. It's just a marker of inherited advantage.

• Speaker #1

  Exactly. It's a massive, massive equality of opportunity crisis.

• Speaker #0

  That shifts the entire mindset of Generation Z.

• Speaker #1

  Oh, absolutely. And it leads to a really provocative final thought for us to chew on. Think about the new social contract we've had for decades. Right? You work hard for the system, the system rewards you with a home and accountability.

• Speaker #0

  Right, the classic deal.

• Speaker #1

  But if home ownership becomes a luxury granted by birthright rather than a reward for hard work, how is that going to alter Gen Z loyalty to the system? I mean, why be loyal to your employer, your traditional career path, or even your government if the ultimate prize has been taken off the table? It fundamentally shifts the psychology of an entire generation.

• Speaker #0

  That is such a profound point to end on. If you want to explore these generational shift further, discover Benoit's book, The Gen Z Shift, why today's leaders keep acting on the wrong signals, available now in English, on Amazon, and as an audiobook. Thank you for listening, and see you next week for a new topic.