Sign of the Times
Trend of 'big baby' adult children living with parents goes global
Are any of you familiar with the Italian term, "bamboccioni" -- a word that I suspect may not be listed in the dictionary? It means "big, thumb-sucking baby," a term that has been coined to refer to young adults who live with their parents. You could say that it's the Italian equivalent of the Japanese term, "parasite singles."
This neologism has gained widespread use because Italy has seen an increasing number of such young people. On Jan. 18, the newspaper "La Repubblica" reported that over 70 percent of Italians in their 20s and 30s live with their parents.
This is an incredible figure. Until recently, the only countries where 70 percent of young adults lived with their parents were Japan and South Korea, a figure far higher than in any other country. Italy has caught up now, however.
Apparently this phenomenon is spreading worldwide, for similar terms are now found in other industrialized cities.
For example, in the U.K., such young people are called "KIPPERS," an acronym for "kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings." In Canada, there's "boomerang," referring to children who return to the nest, and in the U.S., "twixters" are young adults who are caught "betwixt" adolescence and adulthood. There are "nesthockers," or nest squatters, in Germany, and France has coined the term "Tanguy syndrome," named for a film in which the protagonist refuses to leave his parents' home. "Mama Hotels" run a brisk business in Austria, and in South Korea, there seem to be quite a few "kangaroos" (you get the drift).
I'd believed that the high rate of young adults living with their parents in Japan and South Korea were indicative of the lingering influence of Confucianism in these two countries. But living with one's parents is now a worldwide trend; in other words, the world is becoming increasingly like Japan. What's behind this shift?
Having reviewed several reports on the phenomenon, I've come up with four possible causes: economics, education, welfare, and religious and family culture.
Economics has been the biggest contributing factor to the situation. Financial independence has become difficult for young people who face rising real estate prices and deteriorating employment conditions from the worldwide recession that originated in the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis. We might uphold independence as an ideal, but it cannot be achieved if there's no work. Not leaving the nest is only natural for young people on a tight budget who are unwilling to give up the luxury of having family members do household chores for them.
In addition, in industrialized nations, there is a trend of people staying in school for longer periods of time. Many young people live with their parents because they want to receive a higher education (or their parents want them to), even if it implies a significant financial burden. The prolonging of the education process, with many continuing on to graduate school, is, in a sense, a countermeasure against unemployment.
In terms of welfare benefits, in the U.K., there is the problem of becoming ineligible for certain social security once one leaves their parents' home. Meanwhile, there are some who believe that the generous unemployment benefits in France rob young people of the motivation to work.
Surprisingly, the law is on the side of young adults who stay at home. In Italy and France, for example, the courts have often ruled that parents are obligated to look after the welfare of their children until they gain employment or become married, even if they are adults.
In Spain, which actually has a parent-adult child cohabitation rate that is comparable to that of Italy, there seems to be no specific term that refers to grown children living with their parents. Apparently, this is because in Spain, such a practice is not considered out of the ordinary. A possible reason for this is the influence of Catholicism. A family-centric way of life, including going to church together on Sundays, runs deep among devoutly Catholic populations.
And Catholicism, of course, is very prominent in Italy. Many of you may associate Catholicism with the big Southern Italian families of Naples and Sicily.
Here, too, is a noteworthy phenomenon. The majority of e-mails I receive from EU nations seeking advice on hikikomori (shut-ins) are from Italy. Italian psychiatrists apparently have a great interest in the issue. It appears that Italy, following in the steps of Japan and South Korea, is on its way to becoming a major shut-in nation.
In any society, there are bound to be young people who are maladaptive. It is just that the shape of this maladaptiveness depends on social and cultural contexts. In societies that value independence, the number of young homeless populations rise, and in societies that emphasize the importance of family over the individual, the numbers of those not in education, employment or training (NEET) and cases of social withdrawal increase. This is a structural problem that surpasses the pathology of individuals or of society.
Though I'm not one to predict the future, I will end with one anyway. The emergence of bamboccionis and kippers that we're seeing in industrialized nations is just a portent to a worldwide increase in hikikomori. It will become a trend seen around the world.
The establishment of an effective support system for such people and the amassing of various related know-how is no longer just a challenge specific to Japan. As an advanced hikikomori nation, we are responsible for developing solutions that will contribute to the well being of the international community. (By Tamaki Saito, psychiatrist)
(Mainichi Japan) March 30, 2010