In depressing but duh-obvious news, only 20 per cent of 25-year-olds now own their own properties, making home ownership a fairytale for most people of our generation. This statistic has halved in the past 20 years – 20 per cent of people born from 1983-1987 owned their own homes aged 25, whereas this was 40 per cent for those born from 1968-1972.
In yet more unsurprising news, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has concluded that these results are because of the recession and because wages and employment prospects have fallen (we're sure booming house prices in the UK, one of the few economies to actually survive the recession are something to do with it, too.)
This, combined with the fact that people aged 22-30 earned in 2012-2013, on average, 13 per cent less than those who were in the same age bracket at the beginning of the recession, is going to have a knock-on effect.
So what does all this depressing news mean? Well, as our generation gets older, we'll be forced to rent into retirement, and when we no longer work but still need to rent, the housing benefit bill will shoot up.
Robert Joyce, who helped write the report, said: 'Since the 1970s, home ownership has tended to be falling with every successive generation. It looks like the younger generations are going to be accumulating less wealth than their predecessors did.'
Catherine McKinnell, the Shadow Treasury Minister, said that this report is a sign of the cost of living crisis, telling The Times that something's got to give: 'We need action to boost housing supply.'
No suggestion of what action that is, however…
In the meantime, we're finding ways around the housing crisis – two thirds of prospective home owners are defying traditional routes to home ownership by looking to move in with friends, living with their parents, or making that bedroom – the sole place in a shared house you can call your own – a sanctuary.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.