Italian mother takes her two sons in their 40s to court, gets them evicted

NEW DELHI: A 75-year-old mother from

Pavia

, a city in northern

Italy

, has taken legal action against her two sons in their 40s who refused to leave the

family home

. Frustrated by the lack of contributions from her sons to the household and their reluctance to seek independent living arrangements, she sought help from the judicial system, according to the Guardian’s report.
The two sons, aged 40 and 42, had been living under their mother's roof for an extended period, despite both having jobs.

According to reports in the local newspaper La Provincia Pavese, their mother repeatedly pushed them to move out but to no avail. She was also disheartened by their lack of financial support and assistance with household chores.
The mother's persistence led her to take her case to court, where Judge

Simona Caterbi

ultimately sided with her and issued an

eviction

order against her sons. In her ruling, Judge Caterbi acknowledged that the initial living arrangement was warranted due to the parental obligation to provide support, but with both men in their 40s, their continued presence in the family home was no longer justifiable. The sons have until December 18 to vacate the premises.
This case sheds light on a broader societal issue in Italy, where a significant proportion of adults, particularly those aged 18 to 34, continue to live with their parents. According to 2022 data, nearly 70% of Italians in this age group still reside in their family homes, with 72.6% of men and 66% of women included in this statistic.

A 2019 study delving into the reasons behind this trend found that 36.5% of the young adults living with their parents were students, 38.2% held jobs, and 23.7% were actively seeking employment. This phenomenon can be attributed to a range of factors, including Italy's challenging economic conditions and the protracted period it often takes to secure stable employment.
In the Italian context, such adult children living with their parents are sometimes derogatorily referred to as "bamboccioni" or "big babies." The term was coined by an Italian politician in 2007 to criticise those who continue to reside with their parents primarily for the convenience of free room and board.

While it is relatively rare for parents to seek eviction orders against their adult children, there have been instances where adult children have taken their parents to court, demanding financial support. In a case from 2020, Italy's supreme court rejected the appeal of a 35-year-old part-time musician who argued that his income of €20,000 (£17,400) was insufficient to support himself. The court's ruling underscored that young adults do not have an automatic entitlement to parental financial support.