Young people in Malta tend to leave their parents’ homes at an average age of 29, with women typically leaving at a younger age than their male counterparts, new data has found.

Figures published by Eurostat found that young Maltese men tend to be around 30 when they decide to fly the nest, while the average age of women who do the same is slightly lower at 28.

In general, Maltese youths have been found to seek independent living at a later stage in life than their European counterparts, with the average age of youths leaving home in Malta being the eighth highest in Europe and some three years older than the European average age, which stands at 26.5 years old.

In previous years, Maltese youths were found to be leaving home when slightly older: in 2021, for instance, the average Maltese person was 30.2 years old when flying the coop.

The latest Eurostat numbers show that the oldest average ages to leave home were recorded in Portugal (33.6), Croatia (33.3), Slovakia (30.9), Greece (30.7) and Bulgaria (30.3).

Meanwhile, most of the youngest average ages to fly the nest were recorded in mostly Nordic countries, with Sweden topping the list at 19, followed by Finland (21.2), Denmark (21.3) and Estonia (22.7).

The trend of men leaving home later in life than women was recorded in all EU countries, with men on average leaving at the age of 27.4, while the average age of young women who leave home was set at 25.5.

The average of men who left home at the age of 30 or older was recorded in 11 countries ‒ Croatia, Portugal, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Greece, Slovenia, Italy, Malta, Spain, Romania and Poland ‒ while this was only the case for women in two countries, Portugal and Croatia.

Context is important

While she would hesitate to use the term ‘late’ to describe the age at which young people in Malta leave their parents’ homes, youth studies academic Maria Pisani told Times of Malta that while such data follows previous trends, it is important to contextualise them within the local context and understand why they may have shifted.

“I would hesitate to use the term ‘late’ because this suggests a normative judgement as to when young people ‘should’ leave the family home,” she said.

“I’m more interested in asking young people in Malta how they interpret these findings. Do they feel that the transition is ‘late’? And if so, what is preventing them from leaving home sooner?” she asked.

Even though we have become a more liberal and secular people, family attachment is still intact

“Over the past decades, we have witnessed a shift in youth transitions. In the past, young people generally followed a sequence of events that was gendered, and essentially common to the majority: leaving school and transitioning into employment, ‘courting’, finding a home as a couple, followed by heterosexual marriage and a transition to a housewife for women.”

“Nowadays young people here may leave home for very different reasons.

“They may also get married or cohabit; and in each of these cases, they may also leave home numerous times and move back to the family home in what we refer to as yo-yo transitions – all within the period of youth.”

The shift from dependence to independence has become more complex, Pisani added, and has become further muddied by factors beyond young people’s control such as a skyrocketing property market.

“Research published earlier this year by the Housing Authority concluded, in no uncertain terms, that young people in Malta are being priced out of the property market,” Pisani noted.

“This suggests that young people here have very little choice in the decision to leave home – and for those who are forced to leave, it raises serious questions about their economic security and well-being.”

Sociologist Albert Bell says despite cultural factors coming into play, the affordability of buying or renting a home is having an impact on young people’s ability to seek independence from their parents at a younger age.

“There is a mélange of factors that contribute to it, but I think that the socio-economic realities that we have been experiencing for the past few years are keeping younger people at home,” he said.

“I think young people do crave more privacy and freedom, but the economic reality of the island doesn’t really allow for that. If there is increased affordability of renting and owning property, I think we would see a change in the data over time.”

Bell said that young people nowadays have become freer than their counterparts in recent years, especially when it comes to thinking differently from their parents.

“Political allegiances are much less inherited and we are seeing more people who think independently than their parents or siblings,” he said.

“This is a reality that happens across generations and the further across time one looks, the more there is a gap of dissent between youth and their parents. However, I would say that in Malta family and social bonds are still strong and stronger than in other countries.

“Even though we have become a more liberal and secular people, family attachment is still intact, and this is informed by traditional Catholic worldviews and values, which is an attitude that is very typical in southern European states.”

Education opportunities are also factors that drive European youth to move away from their homes, while Maltese students are not burdened with the problem of geographical proximity.

“The geographic size of the island is also a factor. Most students do not need to travel long distances to go to university or a post-secondary college,” he said.

“Meanwhile, for European youth, seeking housing closer to the campus of their choice is more realistic than staying in the family home.”