As the American nuclear family becomes more and more of a rarity with high divorce rates, the Italian family stands as a sharp contrast with its solidarity.
Sociologists count the Italian family unit among the strongest in the world.
Family members and the Italian government work almost equally as hard to support a nuclear family with strong ties. Italian families' solidarity has its roots in the past and continues as one of many Italian traditions. Many families have lived in the same house for centuries. Grandparents take pride in knowing their grandchildren will be reared in the same house their grandparents were born in. Babysitters were a foreign idea in Italy until recently, and even now they are mostly a northern phenomenon.