Survey: buying a house, getting life insurance and making a will - which generation did it sooner?

New research by Finder found that young Australians are living with their parents for much longer than in previous decades, with those buying a home before age 30 halving across generations.

A survey of over 1,000 Australians asked how old they were when they reached specific milestones such as buying a home, with just 34 per cent of millennials buying their home by age 30, compared with 62 per cent of baby boomers and 42 per cent of gen X.

By age 30, 92 per cent of baby boomers had moved away from their parents, however, just 72 per cent of millennials and 75 per cent of gen X had.

NSW residents buy their first home on average at 34 years old, while West Australians at age 27. Millennials are paying five times more for a home than baby boomers, with the average price of a home increasing by 25 per cent last year, but wages only increased 2.2 per cent.

Writing a will and having their first life insurance policy were more on par, with 36 per cent of baby boomers doing this by age 30, 26 per cent of gen X, and 31 per cent of millennials. A quarter of baby boomers had created their first will before turning 30, compared to 22 per cent of gen X and 19 per cent of millennials.

It’s important to note that some millennials are yet to reach age 30, thus may complete these milestones.