Mapping Housing Affordability for Essential Workers in Europe

From nurses and cleaners to teachers, drivers and first responders, these are the city’s key staff. They make daily life possible and our urban societies work. Yet, key workers are increasingly priced out of the very places they serve.

The COVID-19 era made it clear that cities cannot function without their labour — and that their jobs cannot be done from behind a screen. It is therefore vital for our physical and social well-being that they find places to stay in the cities they work in. Yet, some of these employees often earn low wages, making it hard to combine work and sleep.

This project compares wages with rent and property prices across European cities to expose the widening gap between the value of essential work and the cost of a place to call home.

Illustration by Markus Günther for the Urban Journalism Network