The Diane Rehm Show on NPR has an interesting program scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 19, on what it was like for older adults before Social Security and Medicare. Historian Hendrik Hartog from Princeton joins Diane to discuss the family dynamics of old-age caregiving:
We all hope that we will get the care we need through our old age. But these days, Social Security, Medicare, pensions and retirement plans seem less of a sure thing. Economic uncertainty is putting new pressure on adults to take on the responsibility of caring for their parents. This trend brings to mind a time before social safety nets. A century or more ago, the elderly had to rely on family for support. But this wasn’t always done out of love or duty. Sometimes a promise of inheritance was on the line. A look at family dynamics and old-age care giving in decades past.
