意大利国家统计办公室10月20日宣布，该国男子初为人父的年龄要晚于其它任何一个国家的男性，而且在孩子出生后，他们也几乎不会给自己的妻子提供任何帮助。

    据路透社10月20日报道，按照意大利国家统计办公室的说法，意大利男人平均要到33岁才会拥有第1个孩子，而西班牙、法国和芬兰的男人在不到31岁时便当上了爸爸。出现此种社会问题的部分原因在于，与世界上其它地区的男性相比，意大利男人与自己父母住在一起的时间要更长一些，在30岁至34岁年龄段的该国男性中，有40％的人仍然待在父母家中。

    据报道，拖到35岁才结婚的男人想要一个孩子的愿望较之25岁时就结婚的男性要小80％；而在女人这边，只有当她们的年龄大于自己的丈夫时才有可能不想生孩子。与意大利男人相比，该国女性生育第1个孩子的平均年龄为27岁，比其芬兰女性早了6个月。

    报道说，即使这些男人最终做了父亲，意大利女人们也不能指望从他们那里得到日常起居方面的更多帮助。意大利男人在完成家庭责任上的贡献“要么根本没有，要么很不令人满意”。由于意大利的人口结构正呈现迅速老龄化的趋势，且很多夫妇只愿意要一个孩子或者干脆一个都不要，该国政府对这一人口统计学上的定时炸弹一直显得忧心忡忡。

    Italian men become fathers at a later age than any other nationality, and do little or nothing to help their wives once their babies are born, statistics office Istat said Thursday.

    Italian men have their first child at an average age of 33, against less than 31 for fathers in Spain, France and Finland, Istat said.

    Part of the problem was that many Italian men lived with their parents for longer than elsewhere in the world, with 40 percent of 30-34 year-old Italian males still staying at home.

    When they eventually become fathers, Italian women need not expect much help around the house, Istat said, adding that Italian men's dedication to domestic duties was "non-existent or unsatisfying."

    Istat said men who married at the age of 35 were 80 percent less likely to want a child than those who married at 25, while women were only likely not to want children if they were older than their husbands.

    By contrast with the men, Italian women have their first child at an average age of 27, six months before their Finnish counterparts.

    Thursday's statistics will do little to reassure the Italian government which is worried by a demographic time bomb, with Italians rapidly aging and many couples deciding to only have one child or none at all.