Uproar over tax break for "big babies"

By Deepa Babington

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's economy minister has sparked uproar by offering "big babies" a tax break if they let go of their mother's apron strings and left home.

More than a third of Italian men over the age of 30 live at home with their parents, a phenomenon blamed on sky-high apartment rents and bleak job prospects as much as a liking for mamma's cooking.

Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa offered to come to the rescue with a 1,000 euro ($1,411) tax break for 20- and 30-something Italians who rent.

He said the move was aimed at "bamboccioni," which evokes images of clumsy, overgrown male babies.

"We must send those we call 'big babies' out of the house," the minister told a Senate hearing on the 2008 draft budget.

"With the budget we'll help young people who don't marry and still live with their parents get out of the house."

The comment was immediately condemned by politicians from all shades of the political spectrum who said young Italians could hardly be blamed for a sputtering economy and high rents.

"This absurd gaffe shows how he's probably not clear how precarious is the situation afflicting an entire generation -- the first generation that has to deal with social conditions worse than those of its parents," said Francesco Caruso, a communist from Prime Minister Romano Prodi's coalition.  Continued...