Judge orders 25-year-old man to leave home and get a job

A 25-year-old Spanish man has been told by a judge to leave home and get a job after he took his parents to court when they cut pocket money. The man from Andalusia in the south of Spain had taken his parents to court demanding a monthly allowance of 400 euros (£355) after they refused to give him anymore money unless he tried to find a job.

Instead the judge at family court number five in Malaga, ruled against the man, who has a degree in law, and told him he must leave his parents' house within 30 days and learn to stand on his own two feet. The ruling will send shock waves across Spain where it is not unusual for offspring to remain living with their parents until well into their thirties.



The man, who has not been named, exemplifies a generation dubbed "ni-ni" – as they are neither working nor studying – at a time when Spain has more than 20 per cent unemployment. Spain's youth unemployment is the highest in the EU at 43 per cent, more than double the average.

One in five of those under the age of 30 are still looking for their first job, and almost half are on short-term contracts of less than six months. The judge ruled that in this case the man had "sufficient ability to work" and could not expect his parents to support him, although they had taken over the monthly repayments on his car. He did, however, order them to pay their son 200 euros a month for the next two years "to help with his emancipation".