Moving out tough for young adults
A Statistics Canada report showing a significant increase in the number of young adults opting to live at home should come as no surprise, considering the escalating cost of moving out.
The report published last week shows 40.7 per cent of Niagara residents between the ages of 20 and 34 were still living with their parents when the last census was conducted last year, while across Ontario 42.1 per cent of young adults have yet to move out. That’s an increase of more than 20 per cent since 2001.
Across Canada, the portion of young adults staying home drops to 34.7 per cent, while the largest number of young adults living at home was in Toronto where the rate climbs to 47.4 per cent.
Elisabeth Zimmermann, YWCA Niagara Region executive director, said there are likely “multiple reasons” contributing to the statistic, “but certainly, the cost of housing is a factor in that.”
Statistics published this week by the Niagara Association of Realtors show home prices across the region increased by 14.4 per cent since 2016, for an average sale price of $375,903 in July. And the skyrocketing real estate prices have also led to increases in rental rates.
Zimmermann said affordable apartments cost as little as about $650 a month, a few years ago. Now, the cheapest apartments available start at about $850 to 950 a month, plus utilities.
“That’s kind of the bottom,” Zimmermann said, adding most advertised apartments cost well over $1,000 a month.
And the quality of many of those apartments “is not good,” she said.
“It’s a lot of money for young families starting out. Is it any wonder if you’re single that you’re ending up back at home with your parents?”
In addition, Zimmermann said the lack of good paying jobs is exasperating the issue.
“We’ve seen such a hot jump (in real estate prices) in the last two years, wages aren’t going to keep up with that,” she said.
Although many young adults have college or university education, Zimmermann said if they can’t find jobs within their chosen field they can find themselves in in the same as anyone else “who is under employed or not employed.”
“The impacts are going to be the same,” she said. “These are all indicators of challenges that our communities are facing.”
Zimmermann said the debt many of those graduates have racked up as a result of thier education is contributing to the problem.
For instance, a 2015 survey conducted by The Canadian University Survey Consortium showed graduating university students have an average debt load of $26,819.
Meanwhile, Zimmermann said increasing costs are also contributing to overcrowded emergency shelters throughout Niagara.
“Right across the shelter system, we’ve been sitting at 105 to 110 per cent occupancy since last year,” she said. “Part of it is people are having to stay (in shelters) longer because they can’t find housing. We’ve seen increased pressure on the shelter system.”
While young adults still have the option of staying with their parents, she said people of all ages are using the shelters.
“We’re seeing everybody – an increasing number of seniors and people with physical disabilities accessing the shelters as well,” she said.
“It’s tough, it really is.”