The Cost of Growing Up in the EU

Across Europe’s greatest cities, a generation is discovering that independence comes with a price tag they can’t afford. Handing over half a young person’s salary just for rent - before food, transport, or a single euro saved. This has become the reality of a whole generation.

The dream is a familiar one: a first apartment in a lively city, a set of keys that belong to you alone, the quiet thrill of building a life on your own terms. For generations of young Europeans, moving to a major city marked the true beginning of adulthood. Today, that rite of passage looks less like a milestone and more like a luxury.

So has becoming an independent adult in Europe quietly turned into a privilege reserved for the few? Across the continent, the cost of living is climbing faster than wages, and the consequences are felt most sharply by people in their twenties. A 24-year-old graduate in Paris, Berlin or Amsterdam can easily watch half or more of their take-home pay vanish into rent before buying a single bag of groceries.

This article examines the four pressures shaping that struggle: housing, work, food opportunities, and the increasingly elusive goal of financial independence.

Rent Is Eating Young People’s Paychecks

For most young Europeans, the single biggest obstacle to independence has a monthly due date. Rents in the continent’s capitals have outpaced incomes for years, turning the search for a first flat into the defining financial stress of early adulthood.

The numbers lay it bare. Comparing average net salaries with the cost of a one-bedroom flat in the city centre, single earners need to spend almost three-quarters of their salary on rent in Barcelona and Madrid (both at 74%). More than half of the average salary is also spent on rent in several other cities: Rome (65%), Dublin (62%), Athens (57%), Warsaw (56%), Prague (54%), and Budapest (52%).

Even in cities often seen as more manageable, the share is steep - Amsterdam (50%) and Paris (45%). And in Lisbon, the picture is even more extreme: In 2025 the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city centre was at 116% of the average salary, exceeding it by far.

Faced with these figures, young people adapt in three familiar ways: they split flats with roommates, they move farther from the centre to chase lower rents, or they simply never leave home. In 2024, young people in the EU left their parents’ house at an average age of 26.2 years, but the gap between countries is vast - the highest average ages, at 30 years or above, were in Croatia (31.3 years), Slovakia (30.9), Greece (30.7), Italy (30.1) and Spain (30.0). In several countries, including Ireland, Italy, Spain and Greece, more than 80% of young people aged 16 to 29 live with their parents or rely on household income.

The toll is not only financial but spatial. In 2024, 26.5% of young people (aged 15-29 years) in the EU lived in overcrowded dwellings - almost ten percentage points above the rate for the population as a whole, a reminder that for many, "moving“ out still means a cramped room in a shared flat rather than a home of one’s own.

Experience Doesn’t Pay the Rent

‘’We’re offering you an internship, congratulations!" The job description sounds promising: supporting the team, managing projects, speaking with clients and taking on real responsibility. In many cases, however, one detail is missing: a salary.

According to the European Commission, around 3.1 million internships take place across the bloc every year. Nearly half of those trainees receive no payment.

Internships were designed to help students and graduates bridge the gap between education and employment. For many young Europeans, they have become something more, an unofficial requirement for securing an entry-level job, completed not once but several times before a first permanent contract is offered.

For those who are not paid, gaining experience comes with a price tag. The European Youth Forum (EYF) estimates that basic living expenses during an unpaid placement exceed €1,000 a month. Over a typical six-month internship, that amounts to more than €6,000 before a first proper salary. The EYF found that 68% of young people would reject an unpaid opportunity, while 29% said unpaid work had prevented them from gaining work experience in the first place.

A young intern (Lucas, 27) explained in the Guardian: „They say you’re lucky to have an internship — but you’re paying for that luck and prestige because you cut back on food or other things.“

When internships become the standard route into employment, they also determine who can afford to start a career. Young people with financial support from their families can often accept unpaid placements in expensive cities, while others are forced to turn down opportunities simply because they cannot afford months without an income.

The Ramen Noodles Budget

It is often the smallest everyday purchases that make the biggest difference. A weekly supermarket shop, a monthly transport pass, a phone bill or an electricity payment may not seem overwhelming on their own. Together, however, they can consume most of a young person’s income.

The European Youth Forum’s „ramen noodles budget“ illustrates just how little room there is for anything beyond the basics. Even on a budget designed to cover only essential expenses, food accounts for more than €200 a month, while transport, communication and basic clothing add more than €100. That is before any unexpected costs, from replacing broken headphones to buying a last-minute train ticket home. And for the growing number of young Europeans doing all of this while working for less or nothing at all, the pressure is doubled.

Supermarkets: The luxury of today

Since the end of 2019, food prices across the euro area have risen by between 20% and 57%, depending on the country. Wages have not kept pace. Middle-income workers in particular have largely missed out on minimum wage increases or government support measures, leaving many struggling to afford basic goods and services.

The pressure shows up most clearly at the supermarket. Of the 64 common food items tracked by Eurostat, prices rose on nearly all of them in 2025, with basic items like chocolate, beef and frozen fruits going up 20% on average. Food price inflation is currently the highest of all consumer spending categories in the euro area.

The response has been a broad shift in how people shop. A BCG survey of more than 20,000 consumers across 11 European countries found that 53% were worried about their daily personal finances in 2026, with nearly two-thirds actively cutting back, hunting for discounts and switching brands for a better price.

Everything adds up

The same pattern extends beyond food. Between 2020 and 2025, basic utility costs (electricity, heating, water and waste) for a standard apartment doubled in several European cities. Electricity prices dipped slightly in early 2025, but the reduction has not fully reached consumers, as the share of taxes and levies in household electricity bills continued to rise over the same period.

Transport adds another layer. It is the third-largest household expense across the EU, after housing and food. Rail fares rose by 4% in the year to May 2025, with road transport up 2.3%. For those who drive, the cost of fuel compounds the pressure further. Driving patterns barely shifted even when fuel prices spiked in recent years, because for most households the commute is not a choice.

Delayed homes. Delayed families. Delayed futures.

The consequences of all these factors result in a generation forced to delay their future. The cost of living is the top concern among Gen Z. More than half of young adults aged 18-24 are living with their parents, a figure higher than any other generation on record, and this financial constraint negatively affects happiness and motivation.

The financial pressure makes Gen Z delay major life decisions and do things such as opting to live with their parents longer because of affordability. Thus delaying the traditional adulthood milestones, such as buying a home and starting a family, opting to achieve these milestones later in life when they are more financially secure.

Young people should be able to afford to build their lives in the cities where they study and work. This issue has prompted Europe to act with initiatives such as The European Affordable Housing Plan, which is to be adopted this year. It promises to boost investment in social and affordable housing, while also protecting the people most vulnerable to unaffordable housing. Whether the plan achieves these goals will depend on how it is executed.

This article was written as part of the “Newsroom Europe” project. The project brings together young Europeans from Germany, Cyprus, and Ireland, who report in international editorial teams on European issues. Its aim is to strengthen journalistic skills and to foster European exchange. The project is organized by the European Academy Berlin. Treffpunkteuropa.de is the project’s media partner.