An Italian court has ordered two men in their 40s to move out of their mother’s home, after she sued them for refusing to help with household chores and expenses.

The 75-year-old woman, who described her two sons as “parasites” in court documents, sued her sons after she grew tired of taking care of them, said various media reports.

She had already tried persuading the two men, aged 40 and 42, to move out of her house in Pavia, a city in northern Italy.

Both men have jobs but did not contribute to the household, reported local newspaper La Provincia Pavese.

Instead, they lived off the pension of their retired mother, who uses her money to pay for food and maintenance of the home, said CNN. The woman is separated from the men’s father.

Judge Simona Caterbi sympathised with the woman’s plight and issued an eviction order against her sons on Oct 24.

The sons had hired lawyers to stop their mother from evicting them, according to La Provincia Pavese.

But Judge Caterbi said in her ruling that there was no longer an obligation for the parent to provide maintenance because the men were over 40, giving them until Dec 18 to move out, reported The Guardian.

One of their lawyers told local media that the sons have not decided if they would appeal against the court decision.

While there is a culture of inter-generational households in Italy, tough economic times have resulted in an increase in the numbers of young adults staying at home.

They are informally known as “bamboccioni” (“big babies” in Italian), a term first used by an Italian politician in 2007 to mock adults living with their parents, particularly rent-free.

In Italy, almost 70 per cent of those aged between 18 and 34 still live with their parents, reported The Guardian, citing data from 2022.