India proposes fines for children who abadon parents
A proposed law in India would make it illegal for children to abandon aging or infirm parents:
Grandparents were once revered and cared for by the extended families that they headed, but the changing economy has swiftly transformed India into a nation of nuclear families. In some instances, adult children with no space in their apartments have taken their parents to a holy place and abandoned them.
While I hope that type of law isn’t necessary in most countries, it does make you think how the care of the elderly would be affected if there were some sort of social accountability in place.
This is a sad scenario, but somehow it calls to my mind our awful foster care system, and the failures of overworked social service agencies all around the country. The problem is so much bigger than just not having room in an apartment, and fines have so little to do with a resolution.
You can’t legislate caring — not really. Even when there’s a good heart involved, there may not be resources, skills, knowledge. This is one of those problems that raises many questions, for which there are too few answers.