Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Taking care of elderly parents

I always thought this was something that should be done - by families, instead of shoving them off on medicare and social security - being social security is meant as a 'supplement' not something one lives off of. In the UK Dailymail, I came across an article that says this "Children should be forced to care for their parents and grandparents in old age in return for all the 'free' childcare they were once given, a leading family lawyer will say today." Talks about the childcare that grandparents give their grandchildren, often without pay or even thought of pay. Since when is it that everyone has shifted the responsibility for their family over to the government to take care of them?

In the UK, they had the Poor Law, (now abolished), required children to take some financial responsibility for their parents, although this was often resisted.

The passing of the Maintenance of Parents Act 1995 in Singapore gave people aged 60 and over who cannot support themselves financially the ability to sue for cash and care from their children.

It shouldn't take a lawsuit for children to provide for their aging parents, or to dump their grandchildren on them so they can work.

This is an increasingly selfish time I think, as older people are shoved out of their childrens lives, and are foisted onto someone else to support.

1 comment:

  1. Diane:
    I agree that we have gotten away from the "reverence" that used to be shown to our parents and grandparents...
    I hate to say it, but it would appear as if we're pushing all the "disposable" facets of living into the realm of humanity itself.
    That should never happen.

    But that's just *my* opinion.

    Good post.

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