Disgust for everyone’s favorite whipping-boy generation, Millennials, has finally gone international. Bitching and moaning about this age group’s purported refusal to leave the family nest, among their many other sins, is fast approaching national passtime.
It’s nice to welcome another country to the bitch fest. Hello, Sweden!
According to a new report, young Swedes, like their American counterparts, are staying put with their parents for longer. From the Local:
[T]he research suggests that young people of both genders are moving away from their parents' homes on average six months later than they were in the early 2000s and that those living in larger cities are likely to be around a year older when they leave home than those living in the countryside.
As in the U.S., Swedes are quick to blame the economy, which is related to their current housing shortage. Not so fast:
"This may have to do with the housing shortage, but it is also because those who live in metropolitan municipalities usually have closer proximity to universities and institutes of higher education than those who live in smaller cities," the report concluded, noting that people living in urban areas often have the option to study in their home city while living at home.
Sweden’s newly minted adults are simply more comfortable living in their parents’ house, especially while going to school. Which is fair enough — whose blåbärssoppa is better than dear old modor’s?
Swedes are still among Europe’s youngest nest-fleers. On average, 22-year-old men and 21-year-old women are ready to leave the parental bosom behind. According to the EU's statistics agency Eurostat, “just 4.1 percent of Swedes aged between 25 and 34 live with their parents, compared to 15.1 percent in the UK, around 40 percent in Spain, Portugal and Italy and an even higher proportion in Eastern Europe.”
-- Jeff Koyen