Rising rents are putting significant pressure on young Greeks, affecting both their finances and mental health, according to surveys and personal accounts.
Thirty-year-old Angelos D. is moving with his partner this week to a new apartment costing double their previous rent of €350 and half of his salary. “I am very stressed,” he said. “Not because I can’t pay, but we will probably have to change the way we live.” His anxiety is corroborated by other reports doubling rents in central Athens over the past six years, forcing lifestyle changes and increased anxiety at work.
A Eurofound study by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions found that in some EU areas renting a two-bedroom apartment can cost more than 80% of a worker’s salary. Flow Neuroscience, a company developing brain stimulation tools for depression, said the pressures of unaffordable housing keep people in a constant state of stress and contribute to a mental health crisis, especially for younger generations.
Approximately 10% of Greeks aged 15 to 29 are heavily burdened by housing costs, compared with 8% of other age groups, according to Eurostat. Surveys by researchers diaNEOsis show that 29.1% of urban households and 27.7% of rural households spend over 40% of their disposable income on housing, the highest level in the EU since 2018.
The founders of the Facebook page Xespitogatos, which now has over 68,500 members, said common stressors include eviction threats, difficulty finding housing, strict landlord requirements and poor living conditions. Some users report mental health impacts so severe they have considered self-harm.