BBC News : Italians 'slow to leave the nest'
Nothing new here, but the trend seems to be confirmed and accentuated.
It is interesting to see how European cultures can vary from one country to another. At the extreme opposite of Italy is Britain, where children are encouraged to leave their parental home from 16 to 18 years old and cater for themselves. There are even government loans destined to students who have to start paying their food, clothes and rent by themselves while pursuing their studies. These loans have the particullarity that the students do not have to repay the loan until the completion (or dropout) of the their studies.
I would say that it is mostly a North-South divide rather than Latin-Germanic one, as Nortern European tend to be more independent, even in the Northern France and French-speaking Belgium.
An ever-increasing number of Italians are living with their parents until well into their 30s, a study says.
The proportion of Italians aged between 30 and 34 still living at home has doubled to well over a quarter, a recent government report concludes.
Sons linger even longer than daughters, the government says, with 36.5% of men aged 30 to 34 remaining at home, compared to just 18.1% of women.
...
The numbers seem to feed the idea of Italian sons so dependent on their mothers that they just cannot bear to leave the maternal home, men who have become known as "mammoni" in Italy.
Between 1990 and 2000 the rate of those aged between 30 and 34 still sharing the parental home rose from 14% to 27%, Eurispes says in its annual report.
Nothing new here, but the trend seems to be confirmed and accentuated.
It is interesting to see how European cultures can vary from one country to another. At the extreme opposite of Italy is Britain, where children are encouraged to leave their parental home from 16 to 18 years old and cater for themselves. There are even government loans destined to students who have to start paying their food, clothes and rent by themselves while pursuing their studies. These loans have the particullarity that the students do not have to repay the loan until the completion (or dropout) of the their studies.
I would say that it is mostly a North-South divide rather than Latin-Germanic one, as Nortern European tend to be more independent, even in the Northern France and French-speaking Belgium.