The Family at the Crossroads: Young Couples in Italy Between Fragility and Resources

Faced with the changes that have affected the family in recent years, the aim here is to shed light on the characteristic aspects involved i the transition of young couples towards life as a family and as a couple. On the basis of statistical data relating to the Italian situation, some questions will be voiced relating to the difficult transition of young Italians towards adult life and towards life as a couple, illustrating the changes that have affected the way of life and affective relationships of young couples, their way of entering matrimony or forms of cohabitation, entry into parenthood and the difficulties of having to reconcile work demands and family life. This concerns aspects that confront young families with new challenges and at the same time threaten, potentially at least, the possibility of establishing new relations between male and female and between the generations. In order that young families know how to grasp the generative aspects that every crisis contains, il is indispensable for them to be able to find around them a welcoming and solidary social context, capable of promoting their potentialities and supporting their transformative capacities.