Strong and Vital No 3

Childlessness Who Will Take Care of the Childless When They Become Frail?

Even if you have adult offspring, there is no guarantee that they will be around and ready to help, also because the so-called sandwich generation, compressed between children and elderly parents, cannot always be present on two fronts. Added to this is the financial pres sure, which makes it impossible for many people to reduce their work hours in order to care for their parents at least part of the day. The fewer financial resources available, the more elderly people are dependent on the help of family members. As life expectancy incre ases, even two different generations may find themselves in retirement at the same time, which is a recent scenario. Perhaps even the child ren are no longer in good health, so they can not take care of their parents, consequently the demands shift to the grandchildren. Growing old without family mem bers is a current phenomenon that mainly affects women. Men can often count on the support of their partner during the weakening pro cess. Women, on the other hand, often outlive their partners, and if they have no children there is a high probability that no one else will look after them in old age. On the basis of these considera tions, it can be assumed that the welfare state will be increasingly called upon to fulfil an ethical task in the future in order to gradu

Raise your hand if you have never thought anxiously and fearfully about getting older. If one day, for whatever reason, we are no longer able to care for ourselves, who will look after us? For those of us without child ren, this question has a special significance. The general increase in life expectancy is a fairly recent achievement. The problem of the last phase of life, which is often characterised by physical and mental decline despite preventive measures, has only been postponed. Experience shows that sooner or later the roles of the generations will be reversed. Eventually, we will probably become dependent on our child ren, who were once so dependent on us, for a certain period of time. We have already observed this process in our own parents or grandparents. Following the recent massive entry of women into the labour market, the care capacity of families has decreased. This social change has trigge red a debate about the role of the welfare state in caring for children and the elderly. What is the task of the state and what is the responsibility of families? Although the healthcare system helps to support the professional care of the elderly, the reality is still to some extent based on informal help from family members. If there are no children or other relatives available, who will look after the vulnerable elderly? The fact is, if the current demographic development continues, the number of older people with out children could rise even more in some countries, see table below. Among well-educated women childlessness is now more common, whereas women who decide in favour of motherhood are increasingly giving birth to just one child. It would be worrying if the downward trend of recent years were to continue, because childlessness is a decisive factor for a later life situation without family members.

ally compensate for the absence of family members. In doing so, it could rely on the help of volunteers with a social vocation. After all, the expression ‘social inclusion’ also relates to the elderly and especially frail senior citizens. The difficulty will con sist in preserving or, if necessary, regaining the dignity of ageing, regardless of the per sonal family situation of each individual.

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STRONG and VITAL No. 3 - 2024