A senior Italian government minister is calling for a new law to force adult children to leave their parents home at 18 so they won't become hopelessly dependent on them, the BBC reports.

Renato Brunetta, minister of public administration, suggested the new law after an Italian judge ordered a 60-year-old father to keep paying a living allowance to his 32 year-old live-in daughter who had finished university studies eight years ago.

Click here to watch BBC's video on 28-year-old Giuseppe, who is living with his 69-year-old mother.

A recent survey by the national statistics office found that more than 70% of 18- to 39-year olds -- known as bamboccioni, or "big babies" -- still live with their parents, the BBC says.

"We need this debate," Brunetta told the British newspaper, The Independent. "In a sense I'm being provocative. However, all these young people think they're living in a free hotel, and actually there's a price they pay. It allows their parents to keep control of them, emotionally, socially and financially – and deny them their freedom and the chance to mature."

But Roberto Calderoli, another minister, calls Brunetta's proposal "an unacceptable interference in the lives of families, single people and their decisions," The Independent says.

Brunetta, though, says he knows what he's talking about when it comes to bamboccioni: He didn't leave home until he was 30, and still hadn't learned how to make his own bed.

(Posted by Doug Stanglin)

