The Home of the Middle Class

The Home of the Middle Class

30 December 2025

I previously wrote that house, garden, and family are no longer the reality they once were (huisje-boompje-beestje). Today, a house is primarily an investment. But that is another discussion.

The reality is that it has become nearly impossible for a Curaçaoan to buy a home unless he or she can finance half a million. As a result, Curaçao now has hardly any middle class left. Around 80% of the population lives on about 3,000 guilders a month. That is not a basis for building wealth, let alone owning a home.

Today I found myself thinking about Costa Rica. Often referred to as the Switzerland of the Americas, it has no army, is traditionally neutral, and is known for having one of the largest middle classes in the region. What stands out to me is how modestly the middle class lives there. No mansions, no excess. Simple houses — but they are their houses. Their homes.

Here, it seems everyone strives for a house that is too big. Large living rooms where no one ever sits. Swimming pools no one swims in. Meanwhile, daily life takes place on the porch. And once the children leave, what remains is a large house that needs to be cleaned, maintained, and paid for.

There is another reality we rarely design for: our family structure. In Curaçao, multiple generations often live in one house or on one plot of land. Parents, children, grandparents — sometimes with relatives staying temporarily. Yet we keep building homes as if the nuclear family were the norm, while our lived reality is very different. Why not design houses that are flexible: with separate units, shared outdoor spaces, privacy where needed, and connection where it matters?

I wonder why we do not think more realistically about housing. About a modest home, adapted to our climate, our way of life, and our wallets. A compact house designed for how we actually live — with shade, ventilation, and outdoor space — rather than for status.

If we did that, should it not be possible for every local to have a roof over their head?

Without a roof, without public transportation, and without adequate education, almost no one advances. We simply reproduce what we are — and with each generation, we fall a little further behind.

Is this a crazy thought? Or is it the thought we have postponed for far too long?

Miguel Goede