A Eurostsat report has recently been published in which it was revealed that Maltese men leave the family home at the staggering and mind-boggling age of 31.
People will say that the reason for it is that people are getting married later and concentrating on their careers before moving out of the family home. Still, it’s very sad.
It is no secret that the majority of Maltese men are pretty clueless. Most have no idea how to wash their clothes, no idea of cooking and no idea of what it takes to be independent and self sufficient.
The status quo is live with mummy till you find a wife, buy a house and then move in with a new ‘mummy’. As we have already stated, this is pretty sad, if not bordering on the ridiculous.
How on earth are these men supposed to have garnered enough life experience and practical knowledge of running a home before they start their own families.
Marital separation is also on the increase and perhaps even more alarmingly, the separations are coming earlier and earlier.
We believe that in remaining at home for so long, with mum washing the clothes, ironing them, putting food on the table and whatnot, Maltese men are not helping.
One only has to imagine the culture shock it must be for a young couple to move into a new house and have to learn the whole lot from scratch (because let’s be honest, the women are just as mollycoddled as the men).
One wonders what it must do to stress levels when people have no clue of how to operate a washing machine. They ask their partner and they don’t know either. So they take the washing to mummy.
Can we not see that this is not healthy for our society? One is not saying that we should lose the close-knit family ties that we have in our odd little country. Far from it. The family is the cornerstone of Maltese ideals. But overkill is not good either. People learn from their mistakes and the only way to learn is by making mistakes.
What we cannot understand is why men in particular stay in the nest for so long. Do they not realise that it is all part of life to go out, learn and experience things for yourself? There is a certain joy in doing so and there is also practical positives – you learn before you move in with your new family.
Everyone knows that we are working longer, harder and under much more stressful conditions as each year goes by. Adding the mass of stress of learning to run a home often tips the balance and results in marriages falling through before they have even got off the ground.
One could get carried away and say that Maltese men should all go to boot camp, or should be forced to leave the home at the age of 21 (which is a more realistic figure across the world – our men leave home 10 years later!). But of course, this cannot happen. What we really need is for Maltese men to realise that it is in their own (and women – but seeing as the report findings were about men, we will keep to subject) interest to... live a little.
It truly is indicative – those who have less political pique, are more tolerant, liberal, thirsty for knowledge and many more traits which we consider to be European rather than Maltese have (a) worked abroad, (b) studied abroad, (c) moved out of the family home ‘early’, (d) have at least one foreign parent. It speaks volumes – Maltese men and women should literally get off their behinds and experience life, rather than get married, separate and go back to mum to live as a teenager.