In this article we test whether in Italy the off-farm participation decisions of household members in working age are taken jointly and what are the variables that affect them. We find that the decisions of the operator, the spouse and the eldest child are not joint. Conversely, the participation decision of the operator and the spouse, that is of the two household's members belonging to the same generation, are found to be joint. The results suggest that policy actions for the purpose of encouraging off-farm participation rely on measures geared at improving the level of education and providing childcare services.