Elderly as Resources

Support in most families is bi-directional. Financial and other types of support flow between generations, depending on ability. Support can include financial assistance, baby sitting, house sharing, the wisdom of experience and emotional support. In the United States (1986-87), 383,000 elderly gave their adult children and grandchildren some form of aid. The average payment was $4,500. This does not include the transfer of assets between generations as inheritance. Australian studies have shown that older adults are more likely to provide practical and financial assistance than to receive such assistance

A growing phenomena in many countries is that of grandparents raising their grandchildren. In the United States about 5% of all children live with their grandparents or other relatives and in about one third of these homes neither parent is present.. Many grandparents are becoming the primary or surrogate "parent" for their grandchildren. Grandparents tend to assume this responsibility due to the death or disability of their own child due to the AIDS epidemic, drug and alcohol abuse, divorce, incarceration or emotional problems. Grandchildren may also live with their grandparents temporarily for many reasons, including access to better schools. In Botswana, where most of the older people live in rural areas in extended families, there has been an increase in the practice of grandparents living with grandchildren while parents move to urban areas for employment.

The relationship and interactions between grandparent and grandchild may be very different depending on whether they live in a "skipped generation" household (e.g., the parent of the child is not living in the same household with the child and grandparent) or whether they live in a three generation household (e.g., grandparent, parent, child). Many grandparents, who are retired, also care for their grandchildren during the day while parents are working. Many students, at some point in their lives, may have lived with their grandparents for extended periods of time.

The elderly do a substantial amount of volunteer work, much of it does not get noticed or written about, particularly in developing countries. Recently, there has been an interest in volunteerism in developed countries and information is becoming available.

Across Europe approximately 21% of the elderly do volunteer work. In a five-nation study conducted for the European Year of Older People and Solidarity Between Generations-1993 it was found that older volunteers contribute an average of 21 hours per month. Approximately 25% of the sample started volunteer work upon retirement.

In the U.S., the number of people 65+ who volunteer has grown dramatically between 1965 and 1990. In the 25 year period volunteering more than doubled. A study by the Commonwealth Fund , based on a national sample of older Americans, found that 26% volunteered in some manner; 29% were helping the sick and disabled, and 38% with grandchildren provided regular care for these children. In the U.S., it is estimated that the 38 million people over 55 who volunteer anywhere between 1 and 40 hours a week represent the equivalent of 20 million full-time workers. The primary recipients of volunteer work are work in a nonprofit agency, help among related people and help to strangers.

In Western Australia approximately 25% of all seniors are involved in voluntary and community work. Seniors also play an active role as mentors to students. Older adults have had encouraging results with helping students overcome learning difficulties and develop self-esteem.

Over the past decade or so the elderly in developed countries have begun to become well organized in order to educate society about "being old" and to advocate for their needs. This is very important because in many developed countries there is a lot of "ageism" and discrimination against people because of their age. A well known example of such an organization is the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). There are now organizations devoted to educating the community and advocating for the elderly in many countries . Most notably, Age Care England and EuroLink in western Europe and in South America.