Age of the mafia

[chickenarsonist]

After looking through the charts, I can’t help but notice there is not anyone under 40 in any of the families, have they not been promoted yet? Or is the mafia just slowly declining by itself? What do they manage to do nowadays? Sorry I am a novice to this topic, nor have I seen the Godfather.

[SonnyBlackstein]

The mob has a vetting process of its associates which usually requires lengthy service and loyalty before promotion with induction by the family.
The family will usually want to see the associate can handle prison time whilst obeying omertà (silence), they will want a lengthy period of monetary contribution (kicking up) to ensure the associate will be a productive member and they will want to vet the member over time to ensure he is not undercover law enforcement.
This coupled with the fact each family has limited membership spots available (each family is limited by number in membership size) and a new member may only be inducted upon the death of an existing one (who the family has not murdered), additionally there is generally three spots opened at Christmas for the family to induct.

So an associate has to put in serious time and contribution before he is considered for membership and even then he has to wait for a position to ‘open up’. This is why you see very few members under the age of 40 and in some families a very high medium.

[Pogo The Clown]

additionally there is generally three spots opened at Christmas for the family to induct.

Not to nitpick but it is two spots. Of course the families don't always take advantage of it.


Pogo

[gohnjotti]

There are probably dozens of recent members for each family that we don’t know about in their 30s and a handful of unknown guys in their 20s. From the known ceremonies, I think the average age for inductees in the 21st century is between 40-48. In the past two decades or so there have been guys inducted in their 20s and 30s, usually due to a blood relation to a made member. Occasionally you’ll get a guy inducted in his 50s or 60s, possibly if he’s just done a long bid in prison or if the books were previously closed (Colombo capo Luca DiMatteo is an example, as is Lucchese street boss Matthew Madonna if I recall correctly.)

[SonnyBlackstein]

Not to nitpick but it is two spots. Of course the families don't always take advantage of it.