Sooner or later, most parents of adult children must grapple with the empty nest syndrome, experiencing a sense of sadness when their not-so-little ones grow up and move out of the family home.
Still, this isn’t always the case as one Italian mother has recently taken her two sons, both in their 40s, to court for being a little too lazy to spread their wings.
Image credits: George Pak (not the actual photo)
The 75-year-old woman from the northern city of Pavia tried to persuade her children, 40 and 42, to leave her house, but the two have repeatedly refused.
According to the mother, “neither of them wanted to know” anything about emptying the family nest despite both men having jobs, the Lombard woman told the local newspaper La Provincia Pavese.
The Pavia judge presiding over the case, Simona Caterbi, ruled in favor of the mother, who complained about the lack of contribution of her two sons in regard to household expenses and chores.
The woman explained that, despite having jobs, neither of them cooperated with household expenses or chores
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
While children living under the same roof as their mother would be justifiable based on the “obligation of the parent to provide maintenance,” the judge concluded that this principle didn’t apply to the case given that both men were over 40.
Caterbi has issued an eviction order and the 40-year-olds have until December 18 to move out.
In Italy, the phenomenon of adults living with their parents isn’t that uncommon: almost 70% of people aged between 18 and 34 still reside with their mother or father, data from 2022 shows. A large portion of that population (72.6%) are men, while a smaller but significant one is composed of women (66%).
The Italian woman said that "neither of them wanted to know" anything about leaving the nest
Image credits: Yan Krukau (not the actual photo)
A study from 2019 found that, among the adults living with their folks, 36.5% were students, 38.2% had a job, and 23.7% were searching for one.
These figures have spiked in recent years, partly due to adverse economic conditions and the struggle to secure steady employment.
In the Bel Paese, the reality of adults residing with their parents is often a source of ridicule. A frequent term used to describe them, bamboccioni (big babies), was coined in 2007 by the Italian Ministry of Economy Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa to mock those wanting to live a pampered life benefiting from free housing and food.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2021, one in three U.S. adults ages 18 to 34 live in their parents’ home.
Things are different across the pond. Young adults in many European countries are far more likely than their American counterparts to reside with their parents, statistical agency Eurostat data shows.
The judge ruled in favor of the mother, determining that the "obligation to provide maintenance" was unjustifiable at 40 years old
Image credits: Sergio D’Afflitto (not the actual photo)
In 24 of the 29 countries analyzed, more than one in three adults between 18 and 34 lived under the same roof as their parents in 2021. In addition to Italy, other countries that reported high figures were Croatia (77%), Greece (73%), Portugal (72%), and Serbia (71%).
Scandinavian countries present a contrasting image. Fewer than one in five young adults in the region live with their parents, the lowest figure corresponding to Denmark (16%).
The Pavia mother isn’t the first to take their adult children to court. Three years ago, Italy’s supreme court rejected the appeal of a 35-year-old part-time musician who wished to savor the taste of homemade pasta for a little longer.
The young man alleged that his €20,000 income wasn’t enough to subsist on his own. In the ruling, the court determined that young adults don’t have the right to expect financial support from their parents.
Most people supported the mother, making up their own theories as to why this phenomenon happens
