faced with the housing crisis, these Portuguese forced to return to live with their parents

As in France, Portugal is facing a housing crisis: 95% of young people aged 15 to 24 still live with their parents. This is one of the highest proportions in Europe. Encounter.

David Freitas has tasted independence. This Portuguese person worked abroad for several years, notably in France, as a purser in an airline. He had his own accommodation, a salary which allowed him to put a little money aside. But seven months ago, when he decided to return to Portugal to start his small business, the 27-year-old young man had no choice but to return to live with his parents, in the suburbs of Lisbon. “I lost my privacy and independence. Maybe it’s a regression in my life“, he regrets.

Portugal is in fact facing a major housing problem, which particularly affects the youngest. Result: the phenomenon of “Tanguy”, these young people who cannot leave the family home, continues to increase. In Portugal, 95% of young people aged 15 to 24 still live with their parents. This is one of the highest proportions in Europe.

However, David did not lack motivation: he looked for accommodation for a few weeks. “In the center of Lisbon, tEverything is rented to foreigners. There are almost no young Portuguese people living in the center anymore. I don’t have any friends who live there anyway.“, he explains.

While waiting for his small business to take off, David looked at job offers as a delivery person or waiter, but the monthly salaries never exceeded 1000 euros. “You can’t do much with 1000 euros here. Lisbon, when compared with other European cities, is as expensive as the most expensive cities. I lived in France and the price of rent and food is the same as here, but there the salaries are two to three times higher than in Portugal…“, he points out.

So how do young Portuguese people react to this impasse? “We don’t hold demonstrations. We complain yes, but between us, and then we end up accepting the situation…“

“People are resigned to the fact that they won’t find housing, that they won’t have property of their own.”

David Freitas

at franceinfo

As for those who do not give up, many prefer to leave the country. More than a quarter of Portuguese people aged 15 to 40 live abroad. So to curb the emigration of its young people, the government has just announced a series of measures aimed directly at them, such as tax cuts, or tax advantages for buying a first home.