In Italy, young people leave their parents’ home on average at around the age of 30, well above the European average of 26.2 years: a trend influenced not only by cultural issues but also by economic instability and difficulty in finding affordable housing.
Eurostat data tells us that in 2024 Europeans left their parents’ home on average at the age of 26.2 years. In Northern Europe, however, leaving the nest occurs much earlier than in Southern and Eastern Europe. The most precocious are the Finns with an average of 21.4 years, followed by Danes (21.7), Swedes (21.9) and Estonians (22.4). Italy, with an average age of 30.1, is one of the countries where people leave home over the age of 30, together with Croatia (31.4), Slovakia (30.9) and Greece (30.7): almost 10 years of difference with young people from Northern Europe!
In short, before the age of 30 less than 1 in 3 young Italians leaves their parents’ home. In particular, he remains living in his family of origin:
- 99% of 16-19 year olds
- 94% of 20-24 year olds
- 67% of 25-29 year olds
In the Nordic countries, however, things change radically: if already between the ages of 20 and 24 less than half of young people still live with their parents, between the ages of 25 and 29 the percentages drop drastically: 4.3% in Denmark, 6.4% in Finland and 12.1% in Sweden. An impressive gap compared to Italy.
Even within Italy, however, there is no uniform trend. According to the Istat Annual Report 2024, many local factors, from the job market to infrastructure, up to the cost of housing, influence when young people leave their parents’ home. In the South, almost all regions exceed the national average (except Sicily and Abruzzo). In the Centre-North, however, the values are slightly lower, with the minimum in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the only region with decreasing values. There are also gender differences: men tend to stay longer in their family of origin, while among women the permanence is shorter, although increasing in recent years.
But what do these data actually mean?
According to the Eurostat definition, the parents’ family unit includes not only young people who live permanently in the same house, but also:
- those who work away from home during the week but return at weekends
- off-site students who continue to benefit from family income
- those who work outside the home for long periods, but contribute significantly to the family income and do not have the residence of another family unit
Therefore, “living with parents” can have different meanings from continuous stable cohabitation.
In any case, the data tells us that leaving nursery school late is not just a cultural issue or one linked to family ties. High costs and limited availability of housing, difficulties in the job market and limiting social policies are equally determining factors. For young people starting life away from the family home, finding and maintaining accommodation independently is often a major challenge, especially in large cities. Furthermore, if stable work comes late or is poorly paid, it is more difficult to think of being able to support the expenses of both a family and an independent home.
But staying at home for longer often means finding yourself having to postpone other life stages, such as starting a family, having children and buying a house, generating greater economic and social pressure on families but also privacy problems, psychological distress and reduced quality of life.
