Article

Delayed childbearing contributes to longer multifamily rentals

The age of which women in Denmark are getting married and having children has been steadily rising, causing them to reside in rented stock for longer.

April 23, 2020

By Michael Sehested Katja Haizmann Larsen

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Getting married and having children are common trigger points that drive homeownership decision. The age of which women in Denmark are getting married and having children has been steadily rising and has reached historic high levels. This translates into many more people residing in rented stock for longer.

Urbanisation as a megatrend has over the last couple of years contributed to an increased investor demand for residential investment opportunities in Denmark. With a longer established history in multifamily investments, Copenhagen is furthermore the capital city in Europe with the second-most cross border investment in 2014-2018. While marriage means less and less for the homebuying decision, socio-demographic shifts like delayed childbearing is expected to further boost the demand for rental accommodation in the big cities.

First-time mothers in Denmark have been getting older since the early 1970’s (when the average age was 24) and according to Statistics Denmark it reached 29.5 years in 2019 which is the highest number ever. The most notable increase on mother’s age at first birth over the past 40 years has occurred in the years following the legalisation of free abortion in 1973, but other reasons for women to start a family later could include rising educational and career goals, fewer teenage pregnancies and medical advancements that offer women more flexibility for choosing when to have children. Another increasing trend is women having children on their own – a trend that has increased by 45% since 2013 according to Dansk Fertilitetsselskab. Whatever the reason, it has slowed down the move of women (and families) from multifamily rental housing into homeownership.

Wizard data
Fertility rates in Denmark declined with 2% in 2019 to 1,699.4 (number of births per 1,000 women). The 2019 rate was also the second lowest rate observed over the last 20 years according to Statistics Denmark. The lower birth rates could explain why younger women and households prefer living in rental accommodation compared to previous generations at the same ages. 

Furthermore, it is widely considered that the ‘millennial’ generation and their successors in Generation Z value flexibility and job mobility much more than their predecessors and as such, renting is a more natural fit for their lifestyle.

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