Guess who’s healthier and happier between renters or home owners?

A new study shows renters get more sleep and spend less time on house-related chores

(Credit: Pixabay)
(Credit: Pixabay)

Who needs the aggravation of owning a house?

A new Apartment List report suggests that renting may lead to a happier life–at least in terms of a few key metrics like sleep and time spent relaxing versus doing chores.

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Based on a survey of daily activities, the report finds that renters spend the majority of their time each day sleeping, followed by time spent on “relaxing and leisure,” whereas the majority of homeowners categorized their top daily activities as taking care of “household activities” and children. Renters also spend less time at home.

The difference in amount of time homeowners spend per day on chores versus renters is 23 minutes. But over a year that equates to three and half 40-hour work weeks, as Apartment List calculated. The report attributes the differing behavior to the fact that landlords often take care of chores such as lawn care, repairs and general maintenance, and even some kinds of cleaning for their tenants.

Despite homeownership rates declining across the country, Gen Z–whose oldest members were born in 1995–seems more inclined toward buying homes. A recent PropertyShark survey found that many within the generation see themselves purchasing a house within the next five years.