Italy has the highest percentage of adult males who live in their parents' home, according to a study of industrialized countries released last week. Stop Mothering Men (SMM), an international women's group, commissioned the report, which found that 90 per cent of Italian men remain at home until they marry.
"By making this reality public, it is our hope that men in developed countries who still live with their mothers will feel ashamed and leave the family nest," said SMM spokesperson Laurel Shue. "If you are an employed adult, your mother should not be packing you a lunch each weekday."
Vittorio Catania, 34, a real estate broker in Milan who lives at home, disagreed.
"There's no shame in the fact that my mother does my laundry," he said. "I respect women. Until I find a wife to do my housework, I'm not leaving my mother."
Catania's mother, Linda, added that she would be devastated if her son moved out.
"My son loves me," she said. "All good Italian boys love their mothers. Vittorio is not going to insult the woman who gave birth to him by leaving me for no reason."
The study suggests popular support for the phenomenon among fathers in Italy, once mama's boys themselves.
"If my boy leaves the house and gets his own apartment, he will be all alone," said Pasquale Otto, who resides in Rome under the same roof as his son Roberto, a 26-year-old engineer. "What if he's watching TV and something funny happens on the show? He'll have no one to laugh with."
-Sail Ravoan
