Who Will Care for the Parents?

August 17, 2006

A trio of articles today address issues of increasing life spans and decreasing fertility rates. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) alerts us to the “Latest Custody Battle: Who Gets Mom?”

Some of the thorniest custody battles these days are over the care of elderly parents, spouses or grandparents. As longevity increases, a growing number of siblings and other family members are fighting over where elderly parents should live, who should be their primary caregiver, and who should control their finances.

The Australian carries the text of a speech on what declining fertility rates in the West might mean for the future of Western Civilization. It’s a little off our usual topics, but an interesting read.

One would assume a demographic disaster is the sort of thing that sneaks up on you because you’re having a grand old time: You stayed in university till you were 38, you took early retirement at 45, you had two months a year on the Cote d’Azur, you drank wine, you ate foie gras and truffles, you marched in the street for a 28-hour work week… It was all such great fun there was no time to have children. You thought the couple in the next street would, or the next town, or in all those bucolic villages you pass through on the way to your weekend home.

What can be done? Well, back to the WSJ: throwing money at the problem won’t help.

A growing number of nations, seeking to replace aging work forces and retain their national identities, are paying people to become parents. But the cash incentives to spawn new citizens may already be too late.