In some news you read that car ownership by younger people is dropping. Other news suggests that is it generally rising and seen as a more achieveble ‘status enhancing’ purchase than a home. Looking at a fairly recent review of car ownership trends in the UK it is not so clear.

Some people are saying cars are aspirational and a status symbol for many young people particularly those that can’t afford to buy a home – which is most young people! Others suggesting that cars themselves are getting more expensive and so too costly to own. Connected with suggestions that more flexible models for access to use a car based on individual needs are sought.

Of course the best option is being car-free, but it is interesting to consider young peoples’ relations with possible car ownership. The hope is that there is a general trend to avoiding ownership because of improving public transport (yes please!) and more active travel (i.e. walking, cycling and wheeling).

Inevitably it is going to be a mix in terms of whether young people find their way to embracing or rejecting car ownership, or finding new models in between like car sharing clubs. But it would be great if younger people saw cars increasingly as an impediment to living life well as opposed to being bound-up in some image of being a successful human-being!