It used to be the family unit grew up with the idea that we would someday take care of our parents the way they took care of us. It today's economy it was always important to plan for one's own future and plan for retirement. Now, we have 70 and 80 year olds who are trying to make their money last until the end of their time, which could be 20 years or more. Instead, with economic hard times, and overextending oneself, children in their 50's are being forced to move back home as they cannot take care of themselves in this economy.
Again, as time moves on, aren't we supposed to get better? Aren't we supposed to get smarter? How have children who have families who were smart enough to save for their retirement ending up with nothing to fall back on when their jobs are downsized? The answer is simple. The need to have everything now, don't worry about tomorrow mentality of people today. The ability to put everything on credit, not save money, and the need to "keep up with the Jones'" have rendered people useless when it comes to taking care of themselves on the base level.
I think in order to better take care of ourselves we should think about reintroducing classic family values when it comes to taking care of one another. These parents in their 80's grew up taking care of themselves and their parents. They are good people who bring those values forward in continuing to care for their kids. But we need to teach these kids and future generations how to be more responsible in planning for themselves and their families to limit these type of horrendous situations. Maybe simple things such as renewing family dinners and communication will help bring it back to life. Maybe reminding kids they aren't "entitled" to what their parents have, but must earn and care for themselves would be a start.
Forgot to add the link to the story that inspired my rant:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080321/ap_on_bi_ge/living_with_parents
What's difficult is that we can barely take care of ourselves let alone our parents. Our economy has too many people living paycheck to paycheck and then completely screwed when laid off. I've already had to cash in my retirement account to keep up with my house payments. I honestly do not see how I would make ends meet with my parents in the house as well.
Don't get me wrong, I would definitely do it in a heartbeat it they needed a place to go. I'm just saying that we would be living in poverty. I would never leave any member of my family out in the cold - well, except for my sister. I would never be able to turn my back on my family. I do wish, however, that more funding options for families who have trouble making ends meet - especially when there is no more social security.