Cutting off the bank of mom and dad

“Farewell, big babies,” said Daniela Missaglia. Italy’s tradition of allowing grown adults to freeload off their parents has just been torpedoed.

The Supreme Court ruled last week in favor of a divorced father who complained that he was still paying child support for his 35-year-old son. The son had finished his studies and was working part-time as a music teacher, earning too little to live on his own. Of course, most of us as children dream of “becoming dancers, footballers, singers, musicians, painters, artists, or even writers or philosophers.” But unless we are among the lucky few who can pay rent and feed our families with our talents alone, when we grow up we realize we must “roll up our sleeves” and choose another path. Some 67 percent of Italians ages 18 to 34 still live with parents. Do these “spoiled, coddled, hyperprotected kids” realize what previous generations sacrificed? Italians of decades past fought wars, “rebuilt a destroyed country, emigrated from their homeland,” and headed off to labor as guest workers in foreign coal mines. They didn’t have the luxury of following their muse. Let this court ruling be a turning point. “In short, dear boy who has become a man, look for a job—even if it is not the one of your dreams.”