Housing, 70% of young people receive help from the family

In order to buy housing, 52% of Italian families say they received (all or part of) the economic support of their parents. A percentage that rises to 70% among young people under 35, certifying how the family network continues to play a crucial role in 'starting a family' and in alleviating conditions of housing vulnerability. This support, linked to the purchase of the main home, translates in many families into a vehicle for intergenerational solidarity, often through the transfer of real estate by donation or inheritance.

The annual report of the International Centre for Family Studies, through an Eumetra survey on a sample of 1,600 Italian families, analyses the link between structural, legal and economic aspects of living for Italian families. It emerges that the most common type of residence for Italian families is flats, which are inhabited by more than 57 per cent of the respondents, while detached houses/villas are inhabited by 41.1 per cent. The majority (79.6% of households) live in their own home. 25.9 per cent bought it without a mortgage; 46.4 per cent with mortgage; 21.6 per cent received it as an inheritance. On the other hand, 16% live in rented accommodation and 4.4% in other conditions.

According to the Cisf Family Report '24, now in bookshops ("Case e città a misura di famiglia", San Paolo edition), more than half of those who have buy a house, declare that they have availed themselves of family support. A financial support that, for 52.9% was a 'donation' (i.e. a gift not to be returned), for 21.3% 'an advance on inheritance' and for 19.3% a 'loan'.

For the younger generation, parental support becomes crucial for the right to housing. "Family support," explains Cisf director Francesco Belletti, "varies significantly with age, reflecting different phases of the life cycle. Housing is really a vehicle of intergenerational solidarity, through which parents' savings today become an investment in their children's tomorrow'.

For a not marginal part of Italians, however, the financial management of the home is also a problem. Family budgets in more than 30% of cases have not been sufficient to cover housing costs in the last three years, and these households have had to ask for help outside: in 27.4% of cases only a few times; in 4.4% of cases often. If one then measures the overall quality of living, the critical factors are even more widespread: the overall index of housing vulnerability or dissatisfaction (compiled by combining various structural and subjective information, such as insufficient space and facilities or poor functionality of spaces) shows that more than a third of households have high values of housing criticality (36.5%, especially among single people and single-parent households).