Issues and Concerns of the elderly

There is a great difference in the situation of the elderly a couple of decades ago and that of today. Essentially, the family security net always took care of their elders, be they men or women, widowed or unmarried, with ailments and disabilities or merely frail with age. 

But today, in the modern world where the family structure has changed its face from being a joint family system to a nuclear set-up, in a world where, the children have moved out of their parental homes out of compulsion or choice, dictated by the need for better opportunities or for independent living respectively, the gamut of problems or the concerns of the elderly have also undergone a sea-change. 

Compounded with this is the fact that the western influence of materialism, liberation, and ultra-modernism has impacted the minds of the young generations of India. ‘Aping the west’ is an oft-repeated phrase that comes to mind when we talk about the modern day youngster. Some  the trends of this generation include a lack of tolerance for the weak and the frail, impatience, arrogance and most importantly, a money-oriented luxurious lifestyle. 

In this atmosphere of living for one’s own pleasures, the traditional values of the family system get eroded. Caring for the family, looking after the old and the infirm in the family have become bygones, to put it very euphemistically. These are outdated values, is the belief of our modern day youngsters! With such a value system in place, the elders, be they parents or grandparents, are increasingly being looked upon as unwanted burdens of society. Not only do the young adults want to live independent of their parents, but they do not want to take up any responsibility towards them.