Who should be responsible for taking care of the elderly?

[Olivia]

Who should be responsible for taking care of the elderly?

The family, the government, or should the elderly take care of themselves?

 

[Nebulous]

A combination of the three I suppose. Hopefully they have put enough away in retirement funds to support themselves or pay for the care they need. If not then government assistance should be provided, after all they put into social security and paid taxes their entire lives. Family should be there for their elderly counterparts but not everyone has that luxury.

 

[Reddington]

I agree with Nebulous that a combination should be the ones doing it. However, it's a complicated thing. No one should be expected to take care of another person simply because they are older. I've heard stories from people who had to take care of their elderly parent and their life was extremely difficult trying to balance work + home life + their parents + significant other. I also don't think sending them to an old folks home is the answer, either, but sometimes you have to.

As a standard, the government should take care of the elderly. After all, it's the government that expects people to work their entire life, it's the government who expects people to pay taxes (which is essentially a "right to live" tax). The government should be repaying our elderly members of society - ESPECIALLY if they are veterans.