Today’s Baby Boomers are taking over the care of their aging parents, says a recent article titled “More and More Seniors find Care with their Kids,” from the Los Angeles Daily News. According to the recent article, by Dana Bartholomew, adults in California, like 56 year-old Sandra Kilman, are now picking up where the health care system leaves off.
Kilman, a caring person by nature, is part of the “sandwich” generation: a middle-aged group of Americans who not only assist their children with the care of their grandchildren, but also care for their elderly and sometimes infirm parents. Kilman provides daycare for her 11 month-old granddaughter, as well as her 94 year-old mother with Alzheimer’s disease.
Kilman, who also provided care to a brother with Down Syndrome and a father suffering from dementia, before both passed away, admits that her life is sometimes difficult, but she and her husband provide necessary care out of love for their family members.
This topic of adults caring for their elderly parents has found a spotlight recently in California, where the high costs of senior health care have contributed to the re-discovery of an old parental custody law. The law states that if financially able, adult children are obligated to provide food, clothing, medical aid and shelter to their elderly parents.
With no end in sight to the problems of high health care costs, this issue is sure to be making headlines for some time yet. For more information about the rising trend of adults providing care for elderly parents, click the link below:
Study on Adult Caregiving by North Carolina State University
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