Like
most grandparents in Italy, Isidoro and Antonietta Arcidiacone were
thrilled to help out when their daughter, Grazia, and her husband
started a family 2½ years ago. They got more than they bargained for.
The
67-year-old retired police officer and his wife have taken their
daughter's family back into their one-bedroom apartment in Rome. Mr.
Arcidiacone takes his two toddler grandsons to the playground and
pediatrician. Ms. Arcidiacone makes homemade gnocchi and peels the skin
off grapes so the boys don't choke. This summer, the extended family is
decamping to the grandparents' native region of Calabria, in southern
Italy.
"Mamma
and papà are fundamental. We couldn't cope without them," Grazia
Arcidiacone, a smiley 36-year-old brunette, said on a Saturday morning
as she sat in her parents' kitchen cuddling 14-month-old Francesco.
The
Arcidiacones are part of Southern Europe's unheralded social safety
net—an army of older family members who are helping younger generations
make ends meet during the region's crippling economic crisis. Half of
all abuelos, or grandparents, in Spain take care of their
grandchildren nearly every day, and 68% of all children under 10 in
Italy are looked after by their nonni when not in school or with
parents, according to official numbers. By way of comparison, 19% of
preschoolers in the U.S. were taken care of primarily by grandparents
while their mothers worked in 2010, according to Census Bureau figures.
The Iv-B disconnect puts strains on all forms of V-Bi insurance and safety nets, here the families help to quench the chaos from the GFC. As money becomes scarce for welfare this puts more strain on them causing cracks and fatigue in their relationships like flexing a piece of metal.
The Iv-B disconnect puts strains on all forms of V-Bi insurance and safety nets, here the families help to quench the chaos from the GFC. As money becomes scarce for welfare this puts more strain on them causing cracks and fatigue in their relationships like flexing a piece of metal.
Here
it isn't just baby sitting. The number of 25-to-34-year-olds living at
home with mom and dad in Italy is rising—it was 42% last year, compared
with 33% in 1994—and most say they can't afford otherwise. "Until 2009,
staying at home was a choice," says Linda Laura Sabbadini, head of
social affairs at Italian statistics agency Istat. "Then, staying at
home started becoming a necessity."
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