Tenants know: It’s not easy not owning a home.
A recent study investigated this question and came to worrying results.
The landmark study, conducted by the University of Adelaide and the University of Essex and published on October 10 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health, found that living in rented accommodation accelerates the biological aging process by more than two weeks per year.
The study found that renting had a greater impact on accelerating biological age than unemployment (1.4 extra weeks per year), obesity (1 extra week per year), or previous smoking (about 1, 1 additional weeks).
Emma Baker, professor of housing research at the University of Adelaide, said private rentals add “about two and a half weeks of aging” to a person’s body clock per year compared to those who own their own home.
“It’s actually the private rentals that are really interesting here because social rentals don’t seem to have that effect for one reason or another,” Professor Baker told the ABC News Daily podcast.
According to them, the insecurity associated with renting private housing would be the main factor contributing to the acceleration of the aging of individuals.