NINE IN TEN ITALIANS 'HAPPY' WITH HOME LIFE, ISTAT

NINE IN TEN ITALIANS 'HAPPY' WITH HOME LIFE, ISTAT

(ANSA) - Rome, November 6 - Italians today have happy home lives, but not enough free time according to a new lifestyle survey published Friday by national statistics bureau Istat.

Over nine in ten of Italians polled said they had a ''good'' relationship with their families, while over a third said their relationships were "very good".

Domestic bliss was most common among the 25-44 age bracket, more than 35% of whom they led "very happy" home lives.

While men and women were equally ''satisfied'' with their families, 5% more men also said they were happy with their friendships.

The gender divide was even greater with regard to free time, where 40% of women said they didn't have enough or were unhappy about how they spent it, compared to 34% of men.

Women were most unhappy with their free time in southern regions of Puglia (40%), Sicily (39%) and Campania (38%).

Nearly half of Italian families, some 45%, said a scarcity of parking was the biggest problem where they lived followed by air pollution (39%), dirty streets (31%), poor access to public transportation (29%) and crime (29%).

Southern and central regions led the nation for worries about public safety, with 49% of Campania residents saying the were concerned about crime, followed by 39% in Lazio and 35% in Lombardy.