Only 8% of young people in the Balearic Islands are emancipated, half as many as a year ago

PalmaOnly 8% of young people between 16 and 29 years old in the Balearic Islands had been able to emancipate themselves during the second semester of 2025. The figure represents less than half that of the same period the previous year and places the youth emancipation rate of the Islands below the state average of 14.5%. This is according to the Emancipation Observatory corresponding to the second half of 2025, presented this Wednesday by Lucía Siles, representative of the Youth Council of Spain (CJE), and Pau Emili Muñoz, president of the Youth Council of the Balearic Islands (CJIB).

In absolute terms, the percentage is equivalent to just over 15,000 emancipated young people out of a population of 192,339 people between 16 and 29 years old. The difficulty of accessing housing is one of the main obstacles to starting an independent life project. In fact, 11.3% of young people are at risk of poverty, a proportion higher than that of the people who have managed to emancipate themselves, although this indicator has improved compared to 2024, when it reached 13.7%.

The situation is aggravated by the gap between wages and the cost of housing. During 2025, young people had to allocate 124% of their net salary to pay the rent for an entire home, compared to 112% the previous year. This means that the average salary is not even enough to cover the monthly rent for an apartment, without counting expenses for utilities, food, or transport. The rental price in Palma has gone from 1,408 to 1,528 euros per month, while the average annual salary for young people has increased from 14,100 to 14,700 net euros. The salary improvement, therefore, does not compensate for the rising cost of housing.

One room, 500 euros

The alternative of renting a room does not guarantee affordable access to housing either. The average price is already approaching 500 euros per month, an expense that represents 40.8% of a young person's salary. This is a proportion that exceeds the 30% threshold of income that is usually taken as a reference to consider housing expenses affordable. "Working is not enough," warned the Youth Council, which points out that having a job does not guarantee the ability to move out. Job insecurity, low wages, and rising rents keep many young people in a situation of residential dependency, even when they have their own income. The report also notes that the Balearic Islands have one of the lowest recorded youth emancipation rates. According to the data presented, between 2007 and 2014 the percentage of emancipated young people was usually between 30% and 40%, well above the current one.

The report also focuses on the job insecurity of young people. The average annual salary is 14,600 euros, with differences between men (15,700 euros) and women (13,800 euros). In addition, overqualification reaches 48.9% and temporary employment affects 37.1% of young people. Youth unemployment stands at 12.6% in the Balearic Islands, below the 17% national rate, while early school leaving reaches 15%. These data reflect the difficulties in achieving economic stability that allows for starting an independent life project.

The average purchase price of a home is 380,990 euros, 14.9% more than the previous year, an amount equivalent to 25.9 years of a young person's salary. Meanwhile, wages have increased by 3%, compared to the 18% increase in rents and 17.3% in home purchases. Regarding employment, youth unemployment is higher among men, at 15%, than among women, at 10%. Furthermore, the Youth Council warns that many young people stop studying to join the labor market, without this guaranteeing them sufficient conditions to move out. 49% of young people are overqualified for the jobs they can find.

Regulating rents and limiting purchases

Given this situation, the president of the CJIB has defended the need to take action regarding the real estate market in the Balearic Islands. Among the measures he proposes are the regulation of rents and the limitation of home purchases by non-residents, with the aim of creating a market that better responds to the needs of the population living in the Balearic Islands. Muñoz has warned that the island's real estate market does not function solely according to the purchasing power of residents, but is conditioned by an international demand that competes for the same housing. In this context, he considers it unrealistic to try to solve the problem solely by raising salaries to European levels.

The representative of the Youth Council has also questioned the effectiveness of the measures applied since 2021, because, as they stated, they have not allowed people who could no longer afford housing before they were implemented to access it. The CJIB, furthermore, has expressed its support for the demands of the housing encampments and has defended that any initiative that promotes measures to guarantee decent housing is necessary.