How they take care of you when you are old

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ZARAGOZA, Spain — Dolores Fernández Mora, 76, and her husband, Mariano Blesa Julvé, 75, once thought they would end their days in relative comfort, their house paid off and a solid pension of about $1,645 a month. Perhaps they would travel a bit.

Instead, they are supporting their unemployed 48-year-old daughter and two of her unemployed adult sons who now live with them in their tiny two-bedroom home here in northern Spain. They have taken over their daughter’s debts. Sometimes there is hardly money for food.

“While she isn’t working, I don’t have new teeth, and that is that,” said Ms. Fernández, who, seated in her living room recently, showed off the gaps in her smile.

As the effects of years of recession pile up here, more and more Spanish families — with unemployment checks running out and stuck with mortgages they cannot pay — are leaning hard on their elderly relatives. And there is little relief in sight.

Spain’s latest round of austerity measures appears to have done little to restore investor confidence. And new employment statistics released Friday showed that the jobless rate had risen to a record 25 percent.

Pensions for the elderly are among the few benefits that have not been slashed, though they have been frozen since last year. The Spanish are known for their strong family networks, and most grandparents are eager to help, unwilling to admit to outsiders what is going on, experts say. But those who work with older people say it has not been easy. Many struggle to feed three generations now, their homes overcrowded and the tensions of the situation sometimes turning their lives to misery.

In some cases, families are removing their relatives from nursing homes so they can collect their pensions. It is a trend that has advocates concerned about whether the younger generations are going too far, even if grandparents agree to the move or are too infirm to notice.

“The crisis in Spain is affecting the elderly in a very special way,” said the Rev. Ángel García, who runs a nonprofit group helping children and the elderly. “Many grandparents want to give what they can, and they do. But, unfortunately, sometimes what is happening is that the younger generation is ransacking the older generation. They are taking all that they have.”

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blondie
I guess nobody needs privacy anymore? Western society is devoloping the habits of third world nations by choice. I understand some cultures traditionally have multi generational homes but they are set up that way and they tend to respect each other and contribute.

But this other thing is people going back home to mooch, beg and even steal from their parents. Yes, I see it a lot and it is not about those who really need to do it due to college or lack of opportunities. They will quit jobs or screw up consistently with spending, and then move home, expect moo/duh to pay for everything and have no intention of leaving. Like they never grew up after age 15.

I love that I have a home, and will be getting a larger one with spare rooms, comfy sofas, a media center and maybe a pool table and a bar, and no mooching kid will ever get to use it.

Oh, and LOL, he wants his father to pay his child support?! WTF>