(I can’t get no) Life Satisfaction: Unraveling the complexities of homeownership, wealth, and housing unaffordability among European youth

Housing is a fundamental element of life, shaping individuals’ circumstances, choices, satisfaction, and overall wellbeing. However, recent housing and life satisfaction research has only begun to unravel the complexities of contemporary housing market dynamics like property price inflation, credit constraints, and the consequential influence of escalating housing costs, posing a threat to wealth accumulation and life satisfaction especially of young and low-income households. Aiming to fill this gap, this paper investigates the intricate relationship between homeownership, wealth, unaffordability, and life satisfaction among young adults across nine European countries, using a comparative housing regime approach. Drawing on the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) data from 2017 and 2021, employing a difference-in-difference design to address confoundedness and selection bias, while controlling for a unique set of variables, the preliminary results suggest higher life satisfaction among young homeowners compared to renters, only if wealth, housing unaffordability and savings are not in the equation. The relationship varies across countries and welfare regimes, offering crucial implications for future research and policy development.