From September 2015 onward, new students no longer received a basic student grant. This made studying thousands of euros more expensive. As a result, students were slower to move out. Many even remained living with their parents for their entire time at university.

This is reported by Statistics Netherlands (CBS). There are more reasons why some students continue living at home: there is a shortage of housing and rents are rising. Still, the student loan system clearly had a major impact.

CBS looked at graduates who completed their studies in five years. How many of them lived with their parents that entire time? There is a clear break in the graph at the introduction of the student loan system in 2015.

Previously, about 40 percent of men lived at home throughout their studies; suddenly this became more than half. Among women, it rose from just under 25 percent to 34 percent.

There are more differences. Students in higher vocational education (HBO), for example, remain living at home more often than university students. But the same pattern appears every time: the break comes in the year the student loan system was introduced. Previously, 20 percent of university students and 40 percent of HBO students stayed at home for their entire studies; this jumps to more than 30 percent and more than 50 percent.

Those who do move out do so later than before. Here too, the figures show a break: students who missed out on the basic student grant clearly began living independently later than earlier cohorts.

Some students, incidentally, may be a bit careless and forget to report their move to the municipality. Under the student loan system, that made little difference: there was no longer a grant for students living independently anyway. But the trend is clear. Even the coronavirus crisis had less impact than the student loan system.

Current students

The Dutch National Student Union sees the new CBS figures as confirmation that students were hit hard by the student loan system. Moreover, the situation on the housing market has not improved since the basic student grant returned in 2023. “It is truly harmful that young people cannot take the next step,” says chair Maaike Krom. “Because of high rents, students have to watch every penny to secure a place of their own.”

Of current students, nearly half are still living at home, according to figures from student housing providers published last fall. Due to the housing shortage and high rents, some are giving up: they no longer even try to find a room.

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.