Some of the features of the traditional Italian family are still evident in today society:

  1. First of all, importance is still given to mealtimes for parents and children to get together and talk. However, working outside the whole day, families tend to meet only at dinner during the week, while Sundays are still seen as an opportunity to spend time together either at home or outside, on a relaxing daytrip, the so-called gita domenicale, ‘Sunday trip’. Moreover, even if the family members live quite far away, they tend to get together for Christmas and Easter or for other family events such as marriages or christenings.
  2. Secondly, families are still generally very close-knit, even when the children leave home and make their own living and have a family of their own. Family relations are very important to Italians.
  3. Thirdly, children tend to live at home with their parents until adulthood, even up to 30-35 years of age: they tend to reach economic independence quite late, and until then they depend upon their parents.
  4. Fourth, although today families are no longer patriarchal, grandparents are still very important, and if in need, they sometimes move in with their family. Generally, grandparents live in the same city as their family and they are a great help in educating the children.