Amid rising property prices in Europe, the average age to leave the parental home is 26, but there's a huge north-south gap in Europe, with people in Spain, Italy, Croatia and Greece peaking over 30.
Young Europeans tend to live with their parents longer in southern and eastern Europeans nations.
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According to the latest Eurostat data, people in countries such as Italy, Spain and Greece, for example, don't hit the road until they're 30 or older.
The difference between the north and south of the continent is nearly a decade, with places like Finland, where the average is as early as 21, Denmark, where it's 22, and Estonia and Sweden, where it's 23.
The EU average, however, is 26.
Interestingly, it has stayed basically the same over the past 20 years or so, without huge fluctuations.
Is living longer with parents connected to low youth employment?
As it often happens, stats cannot be explained without looking at the economic side.
In countries where young people leave their parents later, such as Greece, Croatia, Spain and Italy, the youth employment rate is also lower than the EU average.
The lowest youth employment rate across the bloc is in Italy with 47.6%, followed by Romania at 52% and Bulgaria at 52.7%. Spain and Greece also hover near the bottom.
The EU average is 65.5%.
Southern Europe: 'Avoid renting at all costs?'
The situation is more nuanced when it comes to homeownership.
Yes, southern Europeans do take longer to fly the nest, but when they do, the aim is a quick landing into direct homeownership rather than renting (and potentially falling on misfortune).
In fact, cross-checking the Eurostat data above with RE/MAX's annual reporton Europe's housing trends, it's clear that the age at which young people leave the family in countries like Italy, Spain and Greece often matches, or comes very close, to the age at which they get on the property ladder: 31 in Spain, 33 in Italy, 35 in Greece.
In other words, people there tend to spend as little time as possible renting, which is also reflected in the striking gap between the majority who own the home they live in and the minority who rent, compared to the opposite situation in countries like Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
How much do parents help their children buy a house across Europe?
However, it would be short-sighted not to consider the "parent factor".
Most people in Spain, Croatia, Greece and Italy are indeed homeowners, yet the majority got help from their family in one way or another: 75% in Greece, 72% in Italy and Croatia, with Bulgaria showing the highest rate at 78%.
Which generation received the most help?
The most common form of help is a cash gift, but also inheritance or previously purchased properties where the children later move in.
That's a huge gap with countries like the UK, France or the Netherlands, where around two-thirds of parents or more do not support their children's home purchase in any way, according to the European Housing Trend Report.
Then there's the generational factor, which shows that parental help has grown throughout the decades, with Gen Z — people aged around 18 to 27 — now being the most helped generation in history (74%), followed by Millennials (68%) and Gen X (59%).
The only two generations whose majority didn't get support were Boomers (49%) and the Silent Generation (37%).