Should Children be Financially Responsible for Their Aging Parents?

It is the duty of parents to provide for their children until their children are able to stand on their own feet. As children get older, they depend less on their parents. On the other hand, as parents age, they are more in need of help. Sometimes, their needs include financial support.

The extent of financial support that children give to their aging parents is a subject of debate. In many cultures, it is common for children to support their aging parents financially. However, there are others who believe that children should not be financially responsible for their parents.

According to these people, it is unfair for parents to burden their children. When people become their own person, they begin to have their own responsibilities as adults, but that does not mean that parents should stop working. It is the duty of parents to be self-sufficient even when their children are already making a living.

Second, dependent parents would only hold their children back from succeeding in life. Children will always carry with them the sense of filial piety which makes it difficult for them to turn down their parents who are in need. Filial piety should not be used as justification for lifetime financial support.

Finally, children who are financially responsible for aging parents may sacrifice their future which includes making the decision to never have their own children to avoid additional financial responsibilities.

On the other hand, other people say that children owe their lives to their parents. Children also have a responsibility to their parents as much as parents do to their children. The relationship that children have with their parents is not a one-way relationship where only children receive support.

Second, children are the most immediate family that parents have. Other than the children, there are no other people to hold responsible for aging parents especially when certain circumstances are out of anyone’s control. For instance, research revealed that many aging parents who belong to the baby boomers generation experienced unsteady employment at a certain point which caused them to be unprepared for retirement. These parents need financial support from their children.

Lastly, the ties between parents and children do not end when children become adults. It is cruel to deny aging parents financial help. The final years of aging parents may become depressing because they may feel abandoned by their children for not supporting them.