Abstract

This article concerns a specifically Italian phenomenon: the prolonged co-residence of young people in their parental homes. We have chosen a qualitative approach for the analysis (semi-structured interviews) in order to reconstruct the main reasons for co-residence, how young adults live in their parents' home, and parent-offspring relations. An important finding is that co-residence assumes different meanings within the social classes: choice prevails among the upper class, whereas constraints prevail among working class youths. Moreover, occupational status plays an important role in determining the level of well-being and attitudes toward adulthood transitions. In general, delayed exit doesn't produce any conflict in Italian families. Parent-offspring relations are stable, with a high level of cohesion, but they are also weak in intensity and frequency of contacts. Discussions among family members typically concern youths' job experiences and outlooks. Prolonged co-residence is not a recurrent or conflictual argument of discussion.