Your country is nurturing
There is a balance that must occur between child rearing and surviving. In traditional, multigenerational communities, the elderly raise the rug rats while the parents are off hunting and gathering (or perhaps, even sleeping — one can dream).
In the US, out of the approximately 67 million grandparents, 2.3 million (~3.4%) take care of their grandchildren [2, 3]. In Croatia, 43% of surveyed grandparents cared for their grandchildren [4].
This is known as grandma service. And it's quite easy to manage since grandparents often live very close to their children, perhaps even in the same building. Multifamily housing, where a big building is split up into separate apartments, is prevalent. You can think of it like condos where a building with 2 or 3 separate living areas are all owned by one family. The grandparents live on one floor and everybody else on the others.
And while this is popular around the world, in the US, 70% of residential neighborhoods are zoned as single-family homes, making this type of arrangement impossible [5]. Multigenerational housing is rebounding, however [6].
So people turn to professional childcare services — when they can afford it. "Currently, the average price of care for two children for a year is higher than the average annual mortgage" in the US [7]. The article goes on to mention that this financial stress is just one aspect of the burden of childcare. Unpredictability also impacts the psychological wellbeing of parents.
In Zagreb, there were more than 3000 children were unenrolled in kindergarten or preschool due to space limitation this school year [8]. With waiting lists for private institutions filled (or the cost rising over 44% after the year has started), some parents are quitting their jobs [9].
This hurts the economy and the country.
Work until you die
Seemingly unrelated to this is the economic outlook for older people. In 2023, France raised the minimum pension age from 62 to 64, suffering mass strikes and requiring the government to use a special constitutional power to effect the change [10].
In the UK, research shows that the retirement age will need to rise to 71, up from 66 [11]. This is at odds with the fact that only 50% of 70 year olds "are now disability-free and able to work."
Countries handle long-term care in different ways, with some requiring insurance (Japan) [12]. Sometimes people receive subsidies to cover out of pocket expenses (Britain, Canada, Singapore). Others are responsible for the entire bill without private insurance (US).
Nursing homes are a standard across the world but carry their own risks. "In May 2020, it was estimated that about half of the COVID-19 deaths in France and Ireland were from nursing homes, with even higher proportions reported in the US and Canada" [13].
The Dutch are experimenting with micro villages focused on elderly care [14]. Houses open to a town square with a cafe and grocer. They resemble real towns where patients can move freely and interact with other patients and trained staff.
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We are all connected
In Rykkin, Norway, a similar facility is being built, one that includes a children’s nursery. These so called Intergenerational Day Centers (IDCs) provide a place for the elderly and the young to receive the care they need [15]. "IDCs address major community challenges, including (1) limited accessible and affordable healthcare for older adults, (2) affordability issues in both adult care and childcare, and (3) institutional age-segregation due to systems being designed to serve one generation and exclude the other that can lead to ageism and negatively impact older adults and children."
One entrepreneur built his own community to provide a place for his aging parents [16]. Twenty six units, focused on Indian culture, provide residents the opportunity to connect through food and activities.
Some smaller towns are starting to realize that they need young people again [17]. But cheap real estate is not enough. You need social services likes child-care and schools to entice families. And maybe some families are starting to realize that they need older people too.
After all, citizens continue to provide value to society well into their golden years. When thinking about our product, we need to understand how long term customers use the service.
Why are governments not leading the effort here? Is enough research (discovery work!) being performed? Should a government be responsible for performing that research?
References
Leader, Secure Development @F500, MBA, CISSP // Security Champions, Secure Coding, SDLC, BSIMM
9 个月Children don't help earnings go up this quarter, and they take away from employee productivity. As a business leader, why encourage any of your employees to have them? After all, your only accountability is to shareholders, and only for a single quarterly earnings cycle. And your compensation package is structured accordingly. Some businesses, of course, take a longer and more family-centered view. Unfortunately, most do not.