First-time home-ownership in the family life course: a West German - Dutch comparison

The transition to first-time home-ownership is made at increasingly younger ages inboth West Germany and the Netherlands. This trend is stronger in the Netherlands than inGermany, however. There are also marked differences between the two countries in the extentto which first-time home-ownership is connected with events in the family life course (marriageand childbirth) and the availability of resources from the parental family. These differences canbe understood in terms of differences in house prices, housing policy (subsidies and otherregulations) and other differences in the legal and financial systems.