Summary
The “Bank of Mum and Dad” drives modern inequality, fostering an “inheritocracy” where family wealth shapes opportunities over individual merit. This safety net often undermines social mobility, tying success to inheritance rather than personal effort.
Rising housing costs, wage stagnation, and unequal inheritance have entrenched this dynamic, with parental support shaping life milestones like homeownership, career paths, and education.
While early inheritances advantage some, the burden of social care costs threatens others’ expectations.
This growing reliance on family wealth exacerbates inequality within and across generations, highlighting the need for a broader societal conversation about privilege and fairness.
And the hell of it is, the government can force you to. They have full authority to garnish your wages and give it to your parents, even if you don’t want to support them.
Unless I move to Alberta, where filial responsibility laws don’t exist.
What in the hell? Where on earth is that legal?
Filial responsibility laws. There are some ways to get around them, but it requires having good parents that care about your future and a good elder law attorney.
Not the USA, but several countries including China make elderly care the legal responsibility of their children.
Nope, USA does it too.
I have never heard of this happening in the USA. The closest I’ve heard of is some states enforcing grandparents’ rights to visit their grandchildren, but I’ve never heard of any American government entity forcing children to take care of their parents.
Just because you haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, or doesn’t happen. Another poster already linked the Wikipedia article, but they’re called Filial Responsibility Laws. The states that have them are:
Alaska Arkansas California Connecticut Delaware Georgia Indiana Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Mississippi Nevada New Jersey North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Dakota Tennessee Utah Vermont Virginia West Virginia
Iowa used to but they got rid off them in 2015.
Any clue how those laws work if parent and child live in different states?