Eurofound Talks
Eurofound Talks
Podcast episode
Episode 40
4 February 2026

The housing struggles of Europe's youth

In this episode of Eurofound Talks, Mary McCaughey is joined by Marie Hyland to discuss the latest research on housing issues for Europe’s youth. They explore why property prices and rents have outpaced wages since 2010, leaving many young adults unable to achieve independence.

The conversation covers the stark reality of the rental market, where securing a starter flat in some regions now requires more than a full median income. From the rise of boomerang children to the role of the new European Commissioner for Housing, this episode examines how to restore affordability for a generation.

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Mary McCaughey

Head of Unit
Information and Communication

Mary McCaughey is Head of Information and Communication in Eurofound. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and the College of Europe, Bruges, she started work in Brussels with Europolitics and the Wall Street Journal Europe. She worked with the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) in South Africa during the country’s transition to democracy, and in 1998 she took up the post of spokesperson with the Delegation of the European Union in Pretoria, heading up its press and information department during the negotiation of the EU–South Africa free trade agreement. Following the end of the Kosovo War, she worked as a communications consultant for the European Agency for Reconstruction in Serbia. She took up the post of Editor-in-Chief in Eurofound in 2003.

Marie Hyland

Research officer
Social policies research

Marie Hyland joined Eurofound as a research officer in the Social Policies unit in 2023. Her research focuses on issues related to housing, the social implications of the green transition and the socioeconomic situations of vulnerable groups. Prior to joining Eurofound, Marie spent several years as an economist at the World Bank, where her research covered women’s employment and economic empowerment, private sector development and the economics of climate change. Marie holds a PhD in Economics from Trinity College Dublin. During her PhD studies, she was a visiting Fulbright scholar at the University of Maryland.

Related content

Publication

17 December 2025

Foundational challenges: The housing struggles of Europe’s youth
Europe faces a housing affordability crisis that impacts all age groups, with particularly pronounced implications for young people. For them, the crisis may have far-reaching consequences, affecting educational and employment opportunities, household composition and formation, and current and future well-being. This report examines the housing situation of the EU population, with a specific focus on young people. It shows that, across several metrics, young people generally experience the housing crisis more acutely than older cohorts.
Data item
Dashboard

17 December 2025

European housing dashboard
This interactive housing dashboard brings together key indicators on housing affordability, access to and quality of housing across European countries. Using the different filters, indicators and visualisations, the dashboard creates an overview of the current housing crisis.
Flag of the European UnionThis website is an official website of the European Union.
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
The tripartite EU agency providing knowledge to assist in the development of better social, employment and work-related policies