Student loan system prevented many students from moving out during their studies

Since the introduction of the student loan system, students have been staying with their parents for longer and longer. In recent years, more students in higher professional education (HBO) and university education (WO) did not move into student accommodation at all during their studies, living with their parents the entire time, Statistics Netherlands reported.

CBS looked at students who completed their studies within five years and started studying before the age of 20, and compared figures from 2016 and 2023. In 2016, when students still received a basic study grant, 31 percent of all graduates still lived with their parents. In 2023, after years in which student loans were the only option, 43 percent of all graduates still lived with their parents. According to CBS, this is entirely due to the introduction of the student loan system in 2015.

Students who do manage to move out of their parents’ home during their studies are doing so later and later. In 2016, 63 percent of first-year students were living at home. By 2023, that figure had risen to 79 percent.

Both men and women stayed with their parents longer, although women still tended to move out earlier. Of the men who graduated in 2023, 50.1 percent were still living with their parents. In 2016, that was still 40.2 percent. Among women, 38.1 percent of graduates were still living with their parents in 2023, compared to 23.4 percent in 2016.

The reason why women leave home earlier is best answered by a developmental psychologist, CBS statistician Tanja Traag told NU.nl. “But on average, women mature slightly faster than men, so they’ll often want to live on their own sooner.”

CBS also found that students in HBO generally live at home longer than WO students. In 2016, 41.3 percent of HBO students and 19.0 percent of WO students lived at home for the entire duration of their studies. In 2023, that increased to 55.4 and 32.0 percent, respectively.

According to CBS, this is because HBO students are often younger when they start their studies. There are also more HBO institutions than WO institutions across the country, meaning that the commute for HBO students is often shorter. That makes living at home more attractive.

The reintroduction of the basic study grant suggests that more students will move into student accommodations again. But according to Traag, that may not be the case. “There is a significant housing shortage,” she told NU.nl. “All young people are moving out later. Even young people who are already working, even if they work full-time. You’re seeing a shift there too: it’s taking longer to move out.”