Geriatricians call for benefits and State help for parents so the elderly are not left 'holding the baby'
Wednesday, July 17, 2013 @ 8:17 PM
ELDERLY people should not be looking after young children full-time, because they are neither physically nor psychologically up to it, say geriatricians.
Doctors at Valencia's Hospital Casa de Salud ('house of health') says the economic crisis is responsible for parents having to work much longer hours when they can find jobs and their wages not being enough to pay for childcare – a situation that is forcing them to effectively leave their own parents to bring up their children.
And with the average childbearing age rising, by the time grandparents have to take on the burden of care, they are often very old and not in the best of health.
Specialist geriatrician Dr Fermín García says: “It should not have to be the case that society's oldest residents have to look after young children when they are no longer physically or mentally able to do so.
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