“They absorb a third of household spending,” the report says.

“Dear children, how much do you cost us“, could be the title of a vintage film but it is also the result, a synthesis, a very concrete and real study carried out by Legacoop on purchasing, and expenses of Italians: including clothing, school books, sports, transport and leisure time “on average a third of total household expenditure.”

Children's expenses: “Between 40 and 70% of the budget”
For a third of families, expenses devoted to children represent between 40% and 70% of the family budget. This is what emerges from the report FragilItalia “The cost of children”, developed by Legacoop and Ipsos research areaaccording to which to support these expenses, “6 out of 10 parents are forced to give up shopping, go to restaurants and reduce their vacations“.

“Families are the crucial structure of our society”
Ageing, negative demographic trends, labour market dysfunctions, lack of inclusion of women in economic processes for direct and indirect reasons, cost of social protection, social and territorial inequalities: all these and other themes, ultimately, they depend on the costs of raising and maintaining a family“, explains Simone Gamberini, president of Legacoop“To address the country's imbalances, we need policies that support them, inspired by a concrete approach to providing answers to citizens' problems.”

And this is a need that would emerge in clearly from the detail of the research.

Half of adult children live with their parents
In fact, around half of Italian parents have children in cohabitation and, in the case of adult children, almost half (the 47%) are totally dependent on their parents, while 29% work, thus contributing to the family's expenses. It should be noted, however, that the 24% of adult children, Although he works and does not burden the family budget, he continues to live with his family“, a clear sign – underline Legacoop and Ipsos – of the persistent difficulty young people have in being able to afford the cost of renting or buying independent housing.

“Clothing: 63% of expenses”
At the top of the list of items that have the greatest impact on spending are clothing (63%), texts and school books (51%), shoes, bags and accessories and sports activities (48%), meals outside the home (46%), followed by medical expenses, leisure and mobility (all at 45%).

Four out of ten (the 41%) indicate tuition, university and kindergarten fees. Between age groups and geographical location, expenses for children weigh above all, on the family budget of parents under 30 and residents of the islands.

Children's waivers
But it is often the children who also have to make sacrifices. when, for economic reasons, families are forced to cut back on their spending. Especially:

The “sacrifices” of the boys

-37% had to give up clothes and shoes and the new smartphone
-30% at out with friends
-25% to one study trip abroad
-23% ad enroll in the study program you want.

Children forced to make greater sacrifices for economic reasons These are those of parents under 30, of those residing on the islands (where giving up smartphones reaches 50%, study trips abroad 37% and enrolling in the desired course 33%) and those to working class.