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Homelessness ‘more and more on the minds’ of Vancouver millennials

New survey finds cost of living and housing affordability top list of concerns
millennial housing survey
A new survey from Justason Market Intelligence and Elevator Strategy found that the cost of living and housing affordability are at the top of the list of concerns for Vancouver millennials.

Cost of living and housing affordability is a top concern for more than 60 per cent of Vancouver millennials, at least according to a recently released study.

“This is nothing new and this isn’t unique to millennials,” said Barb Justason of Justason Market Intelligence, which conducted the online survey in May along with Elevator Strategy. “Cost of living and housing affordability have been issues and top issues of concern among all residents, perhaps a greater concern for this population.”

The survey aimed at Metro Vancouver residents between the ages of 18 and 39, asked respondents a number of questions around things such as housing, jobs, employment satisfaction, political engagement and financial planning.

“We tried to cover as much of the life of a human being in this region as we can,” Justason said.

The survey does have a wider margin for error due to a smaller sample size — 500 in total across the region with 157 from Vancouver — but still found some significant trends, she said.

Housing affordability (37 per cent) and the cost of living (27 per cent) topped the list of concerns for Vancouver Millennials. Eighty-two per cent of respondents from Vancouver classified access to housing as a basic need, while 15 per cent said it was “nice to have” and three per cent said it was of no interest to them.

Thirty-one per cent of respondents from Vancouver currently live with their parents — with 17 per cent living rent-free — while 68 per cent live away from their parents (29 per cent on their own, 22 per cent sharing with a partner and 17 per cent with roommates).

Of those not living with their parents, just 28 per cent of respondents said they own their own home while 71 per cent rent.

And looking to the future, 44 per cent of respondents whodon’t own a home currently said they plan to buy one “some day” — just 12 per cent are planning on buying within the next year and 21 per cent are planning on purchasing a home in the next five years. Nineteen per cent said they would not likely buy a home and five per cent were unsure.

“It’s a greater issue among millennials because the opportunity to buy, it’ll have to be a different model for them [compared to older generations],” Justason said.

The region’s increasing housing affordability crisis has meant an increase in homelessness. The city’s most recent homeless count showed the homeless population is the highest it’s ever been since the data was first collected in 2005 — 2,181 people were counted by more than 400 volunteers over two days in March.

One in five (19 per cent) survey respondents in Metro Vancouver said they have in some way been homeless in the past. That number was a little bit higher in Vancouver, with 22 per cent of respondents saying they had been homeless in the past — 15 per cent because they had no other option and six per cent said it was by choice. One per cent of respondents said that they’re currently homeless, which the survey describes as living on the streets, in shelters or couch surfing.

“Having housing affordability issues creates new homeless people,” Justason said. “So it’s a real concern and I think it’s more and more on millennials minds these days… how many paycheques away from being homeless are they?”

@JessicaEKerr

jkerr@vancourier.com