I just read an article out of the UK titled “The Forgotten Age”. We have known for a long time that the issue of caring for aging parents impacts the caregiver’s emotional, physical and financial well being. Going forward the factors that complicate this “informal” caregiving will be unusual sociological issues.

There will be a huge struggle going forward between the demands in social care and government spending constrains funding, and the downturn in everyone’s economic well-being. In the United States, most adult children caregivers help financially support aging parents with over $6000/years. How to fund care for our parents is being completely ignored in the health care debate.

Another factor is the increase in the breakdown in the family unit. The divorce rate is rising. Older females have no family members. There are fewer family members available to care of the aging. Communal bonds are deteriorating because of urbanization and disruption of family across the country. Who will care for our parents? Who will care for us?