Housing / ownership / democracy
The ownership ladder is slipping
At the same age, two birth cohorts show an eleven-point ownership gap.
AU / The visual argumentHistorical cohort comparison
European OECD sample / age 2952% → 41%
Homeownership: born around 1980 versus born around 1990; a difference of 11 percentage points.
A separate family-background association
- + 25 percentage points
- Adults in their early thirties with homeowner parents were more likely to own a home.
Where the inference stopsNot Gen Z. Not revolution.
Historical observational comparisons are not a political forecast. The 2028–2035 window is conditional scenario analysis.
Look closer ↓Readau / AU Review
In a pooled 20-country European OECD sample, 52% born around 1980 owned at age 29, versus 41% born around 1990. Across comparable European OECD samples, parental homeowner status is associated with an additional 25 percentage points in ownership in the early thirties.
Cohort estimates use 2006–2019 survey observations and do NOT measure Gen Z. Neither association establishes a causal pathway to political breakdown; 2028–2035 is a watch scenario only.
Source and status. OECD/EU Mapping Trends and Gaps in Household Wealth (2025), Figures 2.12 and 2.13. Units: ownership percentages at the same age and adjusted association in percentage points. Visual version 1, 29 October 2026.