A new working paper by S. Bedük, E. Benassi and P. Lersch shows that the relative chances of homeownership between those with and without homeowner parents have remained largely stable across Europeans born in the 1950s to the 1980s. In other words, the intergenerational persistence of homeownership has not changed across these cohorts, as homeownership declined proportionally for both groups. However, this pattern varies considerably between countries, with the authors highlighting the role of national levels of parental homeownership in explaining these differences.
While such relative mobility has been stable, absolute mobility tells a different story. Downward mobility (children of homeowners who rent) rose from 16% to 36%, while upward mobility (children of renters who own) fell from 25% to 9% between the 1950s and 1980s cohorts.
The study draws on EU-SILC data from 2011 and 2019, covering 27 European countries. It is open access at SocArxiV.
Bedük, S., Benassi, E., & Lersch, P. M. (2025). Trends in relative and absolute mobility of homeownership in Europe.
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