Giovani-adulti e denaro: percorsi di socializzazione economica nella transizione all’età adulta

Young-adult and money: economic socialization and transition to adulthood. Contemporary social research states that getting economic independence from the family of origin is a fundamental step in the transition from teenager-hood to adulthood. According to the symbolic-interactionist perspective furthermore a child’s “detachment” from parents takes place gradually through socialization patterns that helps him in getting an adult role within the family where different type of inter-generational economic exchanges can be observed. The present paper tries to explain some mechanisms underlying these exchanges by showing the results of an exploratory qualitative study carried out on 26 Italian young-adults (aged 27-34 years) and 20 of their parents. Results suggest that parents when organizing money exchanges during their children’s adolescence use different levels of control and give different degrees of autonomy to children. The typology of families described indicates that in Italy some parents seem to put off children in getting autonomous source of money when they are teenagers and even later.