Being a renter makes you older than obesity, unemployment or a smoking history

Renters know: Owning your home isn’t easy.

A recent study examined this question and revealed alarming results.

Organized by the University of Adelaide and the University of Essex and published on 10 October Journal of Epidemiology and Public HealthA landmark study found that living in rental housing 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 ex-smoking (about 1.1 extra weeks).

Emma Baker, professor of housing research at the University of Adelaide, said private renting added “about two-and-a-half weeks of aging” to a person’s body clock per year, compared to those who owned their home.

“It’s actually private rent that’s really interesting here, because social renters, for one reason or another, don’t have that influence,” Professor Baker told the ABC News Daily Podcast.

According to her, the uncertainty associated with renting private housing is a major factor in accelerating the aging of people.