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Lawyers and social service workers in North America and the UK are hearing more frequent reports of elders being robbed and abused by their adult children.
Toronto lawyer Jan Goddard, who has worked on elder-abuse issues for 17 years, says financial exploitation of seniors is now "endemic across the country." This can range from snatching a few dollars from grandma's purse to transferring property.
Brenda Hill, the director of the Kerby Rotary House Shelter in Calgary, agrees. "We've had people who have had their homes sold, who have been virtually on the street with no food and no money because their children have taken all their assets," she says. "It happens quite often."
And the problem is likely to get worse before it gets better. People 65-plus are the fastest-growing segment of the Canadian population — but cuts to health services in the 1990s have meant that fewer seniors are living in public institutions.
. . .
South of the border, taking money from mom and dad is also seen as a serious issue. So much so, that the Elder Financial Protection Network predicts that it will become the "crime of the century."
Elderly parents who have given children power of attorney only to find themselves neglected and their bank accounts being pillaged are often intimidated into acquiescence. Even when elderly parents are able to regain control of their finances and flee to a seniors’ home, they are often unwilling to take their children to court for redress. They don’t want to spend their final years paying lawyers and fighting their children in public. In such cases, abusive children go unpunished.
Corroboration of the widespread nature of this development comes from the release in England today of a report that the elderly are mostly to be victimised or taken advantage of by their own grown children.
Greedy middle-aged children are more likely to rob their elderly parents of their valuables, money, and even their homes than anyone else, a report revealed today.
In what Action on Elder Abuse described as "a horrendous state of affairs," the charity discovered that 53% of theft, fraud and deception cases reported to its helpline last year were blamed on the victims’ own sons or daughters.
In my view, this disturbing trend arises in part from the decline of Christian faith and practice. Some biblical passages interpreting and applying the fifth commandment, “Honour your father and your mother”, indicate that the commandment is directed in the first instance, not to young children, but to adults. Two examples from the Book of Proverbs:
- He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother is a son who brings shame and reproach.
- Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, "That is no transgression," is a companion to a man who destroys.
The latter passage is particularly applicable to the issue at hand. Adult children who steal from an elderly widowed mother are treating her as if she were already dead and her money already at their disposal. Theft from parents is practically equivalent to murder.
Also, Jesus had a row with the Pharisees over proper treatment of parents in financial matters.
Certainly, abuse of the elderly has occurred in all societies. It occurred in ancient Israel; else there would have been no need to condemn it in the Old Testament. Nevertheless, the reports quoted above say it’s becoming much more frequent. I think a big part of an explanation is a drop of belief in and obedience to God.
Christian discipleship demands proper care and respect for the elderly.
Previous related post: Canadian population rapidly aging
