Youth, Precarity and the Future: Housing transitions in Portugal during the economic crisis

This working paper examines the housing transitions of young people presently studying at universities in Lisbon, Portugal (n=200). While prior research has established that Portuguese youth tend to stay within the parental home for prolonged periods, this discussion asks if the on-going economic crisis is likely to make a significant impact upon these housing transitions. Other related issues explored include the extent of respondents’ involvement in domestic tasks and the extent of support received from parents, in addition to subjective assessments of the impact of the economic crisis upon their future lives. The results not only confirm that these young people intend to prolong their stays in the parental home due to the crisis, but also that they envisage difficulties in entering an increasingly unstable labour market, which leads to a perception of the future characterised by precarity