All because her dear friend was dying. And, that friend did not have children. Fortunately, the dying person's world of friends, which included people like my neighbor, was there to take care of her.
Single, childless, and old is increasingly a thing.
By 2030, about 16 percent of women 80 to 84 will be childless, compared with about 12 percent in 2010, according to a 2013 report by AARP.Yet another "problem" that has resulted from the revolutionary past two centuries since the Industrial Revolution. Decreasing fertility rates and the increasing rights for women have led to this situation where childless and old is no longer a statistical outlier.
Adult children play important roles:
Older single and childless people are at higher risk than those with children for facing medical problems, cognitive decline and premature death ...Life gets complicated, to say the least.
Adult children typically help elderly parents negotiate housing, social-service and health care options.
While most elder orphans manage to develop their fallback structures, when we think about the deteriorating quality of life as one gets older, well, this situation that was reported in India will not be any outlier either; An elderly couple "feel it is unfair to compel them to wait to die till they are afflicted by any serious ailment":
A Mumbai-based elderly couple have made a heart-wrenching plea to President Ram Nath Kovind seeking permission for active euthanasia or “assisted suicide” as they feel they are of no use to society or themselves.Longevity could become a curse!
Narayan Lavate (88) and his wife Iravati (78), who have no children and say their siblings are also no more, are of the view that keeping them alive against their wishes is a “waste of the country’s scarce resources as well as theirs”.
