Posted on 10/05/2007 7:07:54 PM PDT by blam
Italy's mamma's boys given cash to fly nest
By Malcolm Moore in Rome
Last Updated: 7:44pm BST 05/10/2007
The hordes of Italians devoted to their mammas are to be offered money to leave home, the government has stated.
The average age for flying the nest in Italy is 36
Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, the finance minister, said it was vital to get reluctant Italians to fly the nest and become more independent.
Currently, eight out of 10 Italians aged under 30 still live at home, and the average age for moving out is 36.
"Let's get these big babies out of the house," said Mr Padoa-Schioppa, who left home himself at the age of 19 to work in Germany.
"If young people stay with their parents, they do not get married or have any independence," he added.
Italian men make up the bulk of those staying at home, at around 67 per cent, and a mocking phrase has even been coined to describe them: "Mammoni" or "Big Mummy's boys".
Next year's budget will offer almost £700 in tax relief to Italians under 30 earning less than £10,500 a year, and half that to those earning more.
In addition, the government will pay 19 per cent towards the cost of renting accommodation for university students if they study at least 65 miles away from their home.
Alessandro Rosino, an economist at Milan's Bocconi University, said young Italians are forced to live at home by the country's rising cost of living and lack of work.
"The average wage for Italians aged between 25 to 30 is only half of what their peers in England earn," he said.
"And almost 40 per cent who do manage to leave home have to return."
Other commentators said the phenomenon is costing Italy in terms of lost growth and innovation.
Renato Brunetta, a Right-wing politician, said there is "little movement either geographically, socially or professionally and little propensity to risk".
But Flavio Insinna, a television quiz show host who is Italy's version of Chris Tarrant, said he was still living with his mother and father at the age of 42, despite having a girlfriend.
"I have never felt the need to move. The reason is not because of money, it is because I love them," he told La Stampa newspaper.
Many other Italians happily send their laundry home to their mothers, and 43 per cent, when they do finally move out, rent or buy homes less than a mile from their parents.
However, recent research by two Italian academics has shown that the blame may lie with "clingy parents" rather than lazy children.
Marco Manacorda and Enrico Moretti said the vast majority of Italian parents enjoyed the company of their adult children, and used their extra income to "bribe" them into staying at home.
That is so bizarre. My folks could not WAIT for us kids to get out of the house. They start rocking back and forth in impatience on the kid’s 14th birthday, and by the time you turn 18, they’re staring at you like “Why are you still here??”
Is there going to be a housing shortage? LOL
No, it's because mommy cooks, cleans and caters to her son's every need. He is treated like a king. Girlfriend provides the companionship and the big bambino has no desire to leave. THAT is the problem. Trust me. I know of 40+ year old men who are still at home.
All my laundry I will send to you
All my laundry momma its for you
All my laundry All my laundry
Ooooooohhhhhhooooooooohhhhh, all my laundry
I will send to you
I guess this makes Robert from the "Everybody loves Raymond" show a normal Italian man....bwahahahahahaha!
Why WOULD they leave? They’ve got maid and cooking services for free?
I wonder if this is why Italy’s birth rate is so low - hard to make a baby if you’re still a baby.
Sadly, that is not true. Hard to have a family. Hard to be a father and husband. But not hard to make a baby.
Pathetic.
He ate me out of house and home, and refused to get along with my kids. This kid would go through a jar of jam every day. He was making strawberry pies, not toast with jam. He didn't want to go to school at the same times as the other 2 kids did (until I told him he could walk the 10 miles there if he missed his ride)
Bottom line, he was such a pain in the nether regions that after we kicked him out (nice, kind calm affable family told the agency "get him out of here or we will kill him and bury him in the back 40")I wouldn't even eat spaghetti for 2 years.
I think that having children leave home at 18 or so to start their own households and families is a relatively recent phenomenon developed in the US as a result of our very high standard of living.
Without the high standard of living, it just isn't practical. Social security used to be provided by having lots of sons to work the family business and support one in one's old age (which once meant the fifties).
The plan in Italy is to tax the productive in order to bribe people into making decisions which probably don't make sense in such a high tax environment.
That describes my family. Graduated at 16 myself and lived on campus at college. My brother was flung out the door at 18 literally.
Hey, I have to speak for the opposite side.
I’m of Italian extraction, and yes, the families live and stay closer. But I like it that way. The family is everything.
I’m a widow and I enjoy having my boys at home.
We had a 26 y.o. friend of the family out to visit for two weeks a few years ago. What you say is true. My Mom is from Italy and she was horrified at the level of coddling expected. It wasn't like that for her growing up.
So at last he moved out of his parents' home, and is sacking out on a buddy's couch. This Monday he will begin work at WalMart stocking goods at night.
The father says of his son, "The boy just hasn't found himself yet."
That sounds terrible. Sorry to hear that.
I’m with you. The family is everything and close extended families are the usual in the world. Adult children should work, cook, clean, and pay equal expenses, but keeping the family together is good for the country.
Right now one of my boys is helping a woman by installing a water pump in her car (for free), and one is running a line for my microwave. They also pay the utilities for the house.
If parents want their kids to move out because they are still ironing their underwear, they’ve done something wrong. The traditional idea is, the kids stay home and help the parents out, not vice versa.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.