While India has a culture of older children living with their elderly parents, the sorry state of current affairs is telling a different tale. More and more young people are abandoning their elderly parents and sending them to old age hospices.
This is especially tragic given that our country's elderly population is reportedly going to touch 20 percent by 2020. But it seems one state in our country has found a way to have children care for their parents.
Here's how it may happen!
The Assam government has reportedly proposed to link geriatric (elderly) care to the salaries of their employees from 2017-18 fiscal year.
The proposal was tables when state finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma shared the budget and categorically stated that every government employee must take care of his/her elderly parents.
He added that if people did not care for their parents then the government will deduct a part of their salaries and hand it over to the "neglected" parents.
“Care for elderly parents is the responsibility of every ward. If a government employee son cannot do it for his parents, it becomes the duty of the government to do so from his salary,” he stated.
This is a strange and rare proposal ever tabled by a government and is sure to set a precedence for others to follow. Sadly, it was also a "necessary evil" kind of a proposal given the escalating numbers of old-age homes in our country- a reminder that many parents are in fact left to fend for themselves.
Unfortunately, many young couples do not understand the importance of having their own elderly parents around. They are not only great friends, but can be great role models of kids.
3 things only grandparents can teach
- They have an emotional connect: While parent provide emotional support to their kids and may not want to have their parents babysit their children, it is the emotional connect and safety that a child feels with his/her grandparents that no nanny or teacher cannot provide. Parents may have to be strict or disciplinarian at times and children may not share all of their feelings with them, but with grandparents, kids are more at ease.
- They are more relaxed: Having seen so much of the world and with a lifetime of experience, grandparents may not sweat the small stuff and this rather ‘cool’ attitude can only be passed on from a grandparent to his/her grandchild. Grandparents can lend a wider view of things, which can help kids solve many problems.
- They're willing to invest time: Perhaps one of the best things about having a grandparent is the amount of time they are willing and happy to invest in their grandchild. While most working parents work hard to make ends meet, their kids can be looked after lovingly by their grandparents, if they so desire. This means that they kids grow up in a loving family environment.
Read: Importance of grandparents in a child's life
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