No, Parents must support a 30 yr old able bodied son, until he gets
job,
not only a job to his liking, but a job that fits his aspirations.
The son has
turned down several job offers, has a $200,000 Trust Fund, and lives
in a
"tony" part of town. Hmmm!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COURT RULING MAKES ITALIAN PARENTS QUAKE
Reuters Limited
Friday, April 5, 2002
ROME (Reuters) - In a ruling that has sent a shiver down many parents'
spines, Italy's highest appeals court has decreed that fathers must
carry on
supporting adult children until they find a job to their liking.
Psychologists warned that the decision could discourage people from
having
children in a country whose birthrate is already one of the lowest
in the
world, while commentators said it could boost Italy's already high
unemployment rate.
The case revolves around a wealthy family in the southern city of Naples,
where the father is still paying some $680 a month in maintenance to
a son
who is in his 30s and has a university law degree.
The son also has a trust fund worth some $220,000, lives in one of the
smartest parts of the city, and has turned down several job offers.
But the court ruled that the father, Giuseppe Andreoli, who is a former
parliamentarian and a respected Neapolitan medic, should carry on supporting
his estranged son. ``You cannot blame a young person, particularly
from a
well-off family, who refuses a job that does not fit his aspirations.
The
parents have to pay for their upkeep,'' said the court in a verdict
handed
down earlier this week.
Andreoli said on Friday he was shocked by the decision.
``I feel disgust for a country that I love. It wasn't always like this,''
he
told Reuters.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
``MUMMY'S BOYS''
The ruling struck a chord in Italy where almost one in three people
aged
between 30 and 34 still live with their parents, preferring home comforts
and
mothers' cooking to the challenge of striking out alone.
``This decision sets a dangerous precedent,'' said psychologist Gianna
Schelotto. ``Up until the 1980s, young people wanted emancipation from
their
families even if it meant going out and cleaning dishes. Today, 30-year-olds
still feel young and aren't prepared to make sacrifices.''
The growing reluctance to cut the apron strings has coincided with a
falling
birthrate, now put at less than 1.2 children per woman -- the lowest
level in
Italian history.
``Italy is faced by a deep cultural problem. Young people enjoy a great
quality of life and enormous freedom by staying at home. Without enormous
incentives, why should they leave?'' said Riccardo Grassi, who works
for the
Milan IARD research institute which specializes in youth issues.
The problem is compounded by the fact that it often takes years to complete
a
university degree in Italy, graduates' starting salaries tend to be
low and,
unlike elsewhere in Europe, the government offers little financial
help to
young parents.
Labor Minister Roberto Maroni said on Thursday he was drafting a bill
to
offer tax cuts to newly-weds with an eye to boosting the birthrate.
But social commentators said the appeals' court ruling went in the opposite
direction and would encourage children to stay at home rather than
go out and
find a job or start a family.
``Without seeking to, this (ruling) represents a pernicious obstacle
to
matrimony, which is essential to an ordered society and to the reproduction
of the race,'' Rome's Il Messaggero newspaper thundered on Friday.
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