Young people in Switzerland living with parents for longer

A recent study by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) has found that young people in Switzerland are living at home with their parents longer than they did twenty years ago.

Half of young people in Switzerland leave home by age 24

According to the FSO study, it takes half of the young population in Switzerland 23,7 years to leave home. This is almost two years more when compared with twenty years ago, when it took people 21,9 years to find their own place. 

The study compares people born between 1988 and 2007 with people born between 1968 and 1987. The FSO defines someone as having left home when they don’t live with their parents for at least four days a week.

The report found that most young people in Switzerland leave home when they are between 20 and 30 years old. A quarter leave by 20 years old, 70 percent by the age of 25 and almost 90 percent by the time they turn 30 years old. 

After leaving home, the survey reveals that young adults tend to live close to their parents and have frequent contact with them. 61 percent live less than an hour away from their parents and 80 percent have contact with them at least once a week in person or on the phone.

International residents leave home earlier 

The study found some differences in gender, region and citizenship. Residents in Switzerland who do not have a Swiss passport are more likely to have moved out of their parents' house by age 20 than those with Swiss citizenship.

When comparing young people aged 20, 35 percent from all countries that neighbour Switzerland (such as France or Germany) had moved out. This was 31 percent for people from all other countries that don’t neighbour Switzerland and 22 percent for Swiss citizens. 

The trend reverses by age 30. At 30, 90 percent of Swiss citizens have moved out, compared to 93 percent of young people from neighbouring countries and 83 percent of people from all other countries. 

The survey also found a difference between men and women. On average, men take longer to leave home than women, with 30 percent of women moving out by age 20 compared to 21 percent of men. There were also some regional differences, with the study finding that people in German and French-speaking Switzerland tend to leave home sooner than those in Italian-speaking regions. 

Factors like fewer houses and apartments available to rent or buy and rent rising faster than inflation could be putting financial strain on younger people and making it harder for them to leave home. A study from Wüest Partner recently found that young people in Switzerland can only afford to buy a home in three of the 26 Swiss cantons - Jura, Valais and Ticino. 

The real estate consultancy found potential homeowners would need to earn double the median household income to afford the mortgage of a house in cities like Geneva, Zurich and Zug. The current average age of homebuyers in Switzerland is 48 years old, suggesting that young people may have to pay the price of rising rent if they want to live away from home