39% detectives hired to trail teenagers
32% detectives hired to trail spouses
52% investigations involve 16-17 year olds
92 "risk factor" for Versilia/Viareggio

Italians would rather know what the kids are up to than whether a spouse is cheating. According to detective agency Tomponzi which commissioned the survey, Italian parents spend an estimated $30 billion USD yearly to keep an eye on teens. The boom, which detective Miriam Ponzi says increased 200% from 2000, is due to the increasing trend of teens vacationing unchaperoned.
Investigators have made a hit list of the most ‘risky places’ for teens on holiday: top of the list are beach/club havens like Romagna, Porto Cervo and Porto Rotondo while farm vacations are viewed as relatively safe.

71.3% of families have 3 members
21.1% have four members
7.7% have five or more members
If large Italian families are a thing of the past, the future would appear to have more single-parent families than ever..In 1998, single-parent families comprised 10,8% of total families, up from 9,6% of total families ten years before. Over-two thirds of single-parent families have one child, whereas 45% of two-parent families have one child.

42,6% 25-44 year olds use cell phones daily
19,3% Use cell phone mainly for work
47,1% Use cell phone to keep in touch with family and friends
3,9% Use only in case of emergencies
Stats finally prove what most Italians already know: the overwhelming number of mobile phone calls are to “la mamma.” Not long ago the principle of an elementary school in Genoa banned them after students were calling home to fill parents in on class quizzes. Hard to know whether technology will help keep together Italian families but a very non-scientific research indicates the most frequently overheard phrase is “butta la pasta, arrivo!” or rather “throw on the pasta, I’m coming home.”

Apparently, cold climes mean more hugs from moms: Italian mothers spend 15 minutes a day cuddling kids, compared to 42 minutes in Sweden and 47 in Denmark. These are the results of a survey of 3,000 European moms conducted by the International Society for Psychoanalytic Studies. La mamma, noted the study, in Italy watches a record 3.5 hours of TV daily.

Gay 43% Lesbian 43% Knows
Gay 13% Lesbian 12% Knows, but pretends not to
Gay 18% Lesbian 17% Probably knows, but it has never been discussed
Gay 18% Lesbian 17% Has no idea

A "don’t ask, don’t tell" picture emerges from this survey taken by 3,500 Italian gays.
Perhaps the recent skirmish over the gay pride parade, slated to take place among heated protests from the Vatican and seesawing politicians, will bring things out in the open.

Related resources:
For more on the World Gay Pride festival (July 1-9) 2000
www.mariomieli.net

25,000 number of women used Norlevo in first month available
17-18 average age of users
54.3 % 14-24 year olds use a cell phone
1 service sending “you’re fertile” messages via cell phone Debate about whether the “day after pill” constitutes an abortion has locked politicians and the Vatican in a bitter debate, but a unique service launched the same time as the pill went virtually unnoticed. A new web site about motherhood, www.mamma.it, calculates fertility for would-be mothers—sending a message reading “you’re fertile” via cell phone.

Naturally, the free service, which does not explicitly dissuade women from using it for contraceptive purposes, is likely to be attractive to young women, also among the heaviest cell phone users. Suddenly, the phrase “let’s get together later in the week” takes on a whole new meaning.