More than half of Denmark’s 21-year-olds still live with their parents, a striking change in a country where young adults have traditionally left the family home earlier than most Europeans. In 2025, 57% of 21-year-olds lived at home, compared with 32% in 2011, according to figures from Statistics Denmark highlighted in a new study by the Danish philanthropic association Realdania.
The rise is not entirely new. Earlier research by Statistics Denmark found that the proportion had already reached 42% in 2021. The latest figure, reported by Danish broadcaster DR, means living with parents has become the majority arrangement for people at that age.
Why more young Danes are staying at home
Housing costs and the availability of affordable accommodation are among the possible explanations. Realdania’s head of analysis, Henrik Mahncke, also points to young people feeling comfortable in the family home. These are possible contributing factors, rather than a single established cause of the increase.
Geography matters, too. Young people who grow up far from universities and other educational institutions often need to move to study, while those living near major study centres have more opportunities to remain at home. In Statistics Denmark’s 2021 municipal figures, 61% of 21-year-olds in Albertslund, near Copenhagen, lived with their parents, compared with 14% on the island of Læsø. These local figures refer to 2021, not the new 2025 national total.
Mette Mechlenborg, a senior housing researcher at Aalborg University, suggests another consideration: many family houses now offer enough space and privacy for adult children to live relatively independently. For some, remaining in a spacious family home can be more attractive than paying for a small room elsewhere. NordiskPost has previously reported on how housing costs are also reshaping where young Danes move, particularly around Copenhagen.
Denmark still stands out for leaving home early
Despite the change, Denmark remains among the European countries where young people typically leave their parents’ home earliest. Eurostat’s figures for 2025 put Denmark’s estimated leaving-home age at 21.8 years, compared with an EU average of 26.3 years. Finland was lower still at 21.4 years, while Italy and Spain were both at 30.2 years.
The Eurostat measure describes the age around which half of young people have left the parental household. It is different from counting the proportion of Danish 21-year-olds who still live at home, but both indicators show how unusually early residential independence remains in the Nordic region.
Staying at home does not necessarily mean poorer wellbeing. Realdania’s new survey, based on responses from 2,845 people aged 18 to 29, found no overall difference in quality of life between young adults living with parents and those who had moved out. It also found that those sharing a home with other young people tended to report higher life satisfaction than those living alone.
The findings suggest that the transition to independent living is changing in Denmark, but that the quality and affordability of young people’s housing, and whom they live with, may matter as much as the age at which they move out.
