Study finds disconnect between home ownership and starting a family

New research from the University of Southampton has found that the likelihood of owning your own home and becoming a parent has fallen in recent years, with young people just as likely to become parents while living in private rented accommodation.

In previous eras, people were more likely to become parents after they became homeowners, but the new research by the Centre for Population Change (CPC) questions the usual assumption that people will own their own home before becoming a parent.

The study found that prior to 2012, the likelihood of conceiving a first child was significantly higher for homeowners compared to private tenants, even when considering socio-economic and demographic characteristics, but from 2013 the relationship between owning a home and becoming a parent changed.

Although the data does not show underlying reasons, the researchers suggest that owning a home may now be in direct competition with the costs of having children, with homeownership increasingly requiring households to have a dual income.

The CPC’s Professor Ann Berrington, who led the research, said: ‘This disconnection between owning a home and becoming a parent has significant implications for parenthood in general.

‘If it is the case, as we propose, that homeownership 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 forego having children. So the families that people may have planned to have will be unfulfilled for many young people now reaching the traditional parenthood ages.’

As a result of houses becoming more unaffordable over time, homeownership rates among young people have plummeted and the number of people living in private rented accommodation into their late twenties has increased.

Professor Berrington added: ‘The private rental housing market in Britain remains un-family friendly, unregulated, and insecure. Housing uncertainty among private renters might arise from the threat of evictions, unregulated increases in rental prices, and the lack of rights around property maintenance and enhancement.

‘What is particularly concerning for the parents of children in a private rental home is that moving house can require moving children from one school to another. With the rise in young people now more likely to be in private rental accommodation when they are of an age to start a family, it is vital that the government implements policies to improve the quality and security of private rented accommodation.

‘Policies need to recognise and address the large regional disparities in housing affordability, for example by improving housing availability and affordability in high cost areas, while encouraging job formation in areas of the country where housing is more affordable.’

The full study can be found here.

In related news, thousands of people are expected to be helped onto the housing ladder, as an investment of £8.6bn is allocated across England today to boost the supply of affordable housing.

Photo by Paige Cody