More babies are being born to parents living in insecure private sector rented accommodation, new research shows.
The Royal London Insurance Company says its analysis of figures from the Family Resources Survey shows around half of all babies born in Britain – approximately 365,000 a year - are now born into rented accommodation.
It says that for the first time in living memory a child is at least as likely to be born into a rented home as a home owned by its parents, up from around one in three in 2003/04.
Royal London’s latest policy paper, 'The Parent Rent Trap', says there are now more than 1.5m families with dependent children living in private rented accommodation in England.
Becky O’Connor, personal finance specialist at Royal London, said: 'Renting is no longer something carefree young people do for a few years while they save up a deposit to buy and settle down.
'Renting is an increasingly long-term tenure and it’s increasingly impossible to escape from.
'For people in their late twenties and thirties, half of whom are starting families in insecure accommodation, not having a home of their own is fraught with practical and emotional issues. The main risk is eviction, which hangs threateningly in the background of normal family life.'
