The playroom that transforms into a definitive study, the fridge always full thanks to mum’s shopping and the mathematical certainty of not having to deal with rent at the end of the month. In Italy, the transition to adulthood resembles an endless marathon, certified by the merciless numbers published by Eurostat on 15 September 2026 and integrated by Istat data. In 2025, in fact, the average age at which young Italians leave the family home reached 30.2 years, recording a further increase compared to 30.1 years of the previous year.
This value places the country a good 4 years above the European Union average, set at 26.3 years, relegating it to the rear of the continental ranking together with Spain, Slovakia, Greece and Croatia. The highest average ages for leaving the parental home were recorded in Croatia (31.5 years), Greece and Slovakia (both 30.9 years) and Spain and Italy (both 30.2 years). In contrast, the lowest average ages were recorded in Finland (21.4 years), Denmark (21.8 years) and Estonia and Lithuania (both 22.7 years).
To complete the picture, Istat intervenes, revealing that 69.4% of under 35s still live with their parents, an abysmal gap compared to the 50.6% recorded as the European average. A phenomenon that shows no signs of regressing, marking an increase of almost eight percentage points compared to 61.4% in 2012, and which, splitting the peninsula in two, shows peaks of 71.5% in the South compared to 64.3% in the North.
The chasm of youth work and the relentless comparison with Northern Europe
Behind the proverbial reluctance to change residence lies a complex economic reality, dominated by a job market that heavily penalizes the new generations. In 2025, the employment rate of the age group between 20 and 29 years in Italy stopped at 47.6%, the lowest level in the entire European Union, where the average stands at 65.5%. The gap of around 18 percentage points illustrates the isolation of a system in which finding stable and independent employment remains a mirage for the majority of twenty-year-olds.
@Eurostat
Although Eurostat specifies that the link between employment and housing autonomy describes a statistical correlation and not a direct cause and effect relationship, the geography of the data is eloquent. In the virtuous countries of Northern Europe, such as Finland and Denmark, independence reaches 21.4 and 21.8 years respectively, supported by youth employment rates that fly well above the community average, reaching record highs in the Netherlands of over 84%. At the other extreme, nations such as Croatia at 31.5 years and Greece at 30.9 years share the same fate of postponed autonomy with Italy. Staying at home is therefore not a cultural choice or a comfortable youthful habit, but the side effect of an economy that is struggling to offer the material foundations to take flight.
