I Hadn't Noticed.

Bernard Salt is Australia's messenger you want to shoot but simply can't because he has such a great name, and is in that "older man who is rather sauve in a suit and most definitely clever" category. He's one of the people on my "If you could host a dinner party and invite anyone you wanted, who would you invite?" list.


Bernard delivers new phrases into the Australian lexicon on a fairly regular basis, encapsulating in a catchy phrase phenomena which plague the psyche of normal Australians on a daily basis. Observe:


We knew there was a dearth of single men in Australia - it just took Bernie to put it into a catch-phrase. You'll hear it in bars, cafes and the ice cream aisle of your local supermarket on any given day.

Bernard has just announced the existence of yet another cultural issue confronting single Aussie ladies everywhere: the proliferation of The Mummy's Boy.

New data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggests that Aussie mothers are breeding a generation of mummies' boys, with 27% of men aged between 20 and 34 still living with their parents - double the proportion of women. Bernard said the difference could be explained in part because men generally marry younger women. In addition, "Men are living at home well into their twenties because they get free meals, free board, free laundry, free access to the family car and you can have your girlfriend stay in your bedroom overnight, so why would you ever leave home?"

So ... Not such a big deal? say ye who have never dated a mummy's boy. Wrong.

Bernard notes that because the precious little darlings are tied to the apron strings longer, "these men could have unrealistic expectations of their partners."

And here is the important message from our social-issues-with-mathematical-backing messiah: "mum dotes on you and that leads to this entire generation of men who are effectively mummies' boys. The problem being that when they go out and form a meaningful relationship they expect their girlfriend to pick up where mum left off."

"A generation ago men generally left home at 18 and were fending for themselves managing their own households and budgets. If you've got mummy picking up your dirty washing at 27 you never actually learn those skills. The upshot of this is that if you are raised with this attitude of not having to do anything for yourself, men will have the attitude that: "If you don't do anything, a woman's going to do it for you."