More young parents renting their homes

YOUNG people are now just as likely to become parents while living in private rented accommodation as they are while owning their own home, according to a new study.

Researchers from the Centre for Population Change (CPC) at the University of Southampton said their findings show a shift from previous eras when parents were more likely to be homeowners. The study found that up until 2012 the likelihood of conceiving a first child was significantly higher for homeowners compared with private tenants, regardless of socioeconomic or demographic status.

But since 2013, the researchers found a “clear change” in the relationship between owning a home and becoming a parent.

They suggest that the cost of owning a home is now in direct competition with the costs of raising children. Professor Ann Berrington, who led the research, said: “If it is the case, as we propose, that home-ownership is increasingly competing with the costs of having children, then it is likely that those who do manage to buy a home might well postpone or even forgo having children.”