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Adults in Spain could get monthly €250 to persuade them to leave parents’ home

Young people aged under 35 would be eligible for the monthly bonus under new plans

Emily Atkinson
Friday 08 October 2021 10:02 BST
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Spanish President Pedro Sanchez hopes the proposals would help give young people “access to decent rental housing”
Spanish President Pedro Sanchez hopes the proposals would help give young people “access to decent rental housing” (EPA)

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Young people in Spain could be paid €250 each month to persuade them to stop living with their parents.

The government unveiled plans to help motivate under-35s to move into their own homes amid concerns over rising youth unemployment rates.

Currently, the average age for a young adult to move out of their parents’ home is 30, something partly attributed to the impacts of the 2008 financial crash.

The average age for young people to stop living with parents in the European Union is 26 and is 24.6 in the UK, according to Eurostat.

If the plans, proposed by President Pedro Sánchez, are passed, 18 to 35-year-olds earning less than €23,725 (£21,200) a year will be able to claim the €250 (£213) monthly “youth voucher”.

The bonus would help give young people “access to decent rental housing,” Mr Sánchez said.

“We are talking about a fair economic recovery and this means facilitating access to housing, especially for those who are most vulnerable to precariousness, such as our young people,” he said at a United Nations Human Settlement Programme event.

The new proposals coincide with a spike in youth unemployment rates, shrinking rental market and rising rents in Spain, according to Quartz.

The unemployment rate for young people in Spain has soared during the coronavirus pandemic and is currently the highest in the European Union at 38 per cent.

Low rental supply and high demand, coupled with the fact the majority of the Spanish population own their homes, have left rental prices unaffordable to many young people.

Back in the UK, there was a large fall in employment levels at the start of the pandemic for young people aged between 16 and 24.

The number of unemployed young people later returned to pre-pandemic levels but has since started dropping off again.

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