> Having family is no guarantee they will stay with you, take you in, or provide for you in old age. We can look at this in terms of the individual family, or

> Having family is no guarantee they will stay with you, take you in, or provide for you in old age. We can look at this in terms of the individual family, or in terms of the larger society and its economic forces. Individual relationships: Yes, having family increases the odds that someone will give a shit, but it is no guarantee -- and it is less of a guarantee, the less people care about their parents and relatives. (Which is not going to be a good path to go down in an era of weaker states and nonexistent social services. The Family is going to have to step into that gap, as it does in many other societies, if people are going to have anything. And, (transnational) cultures in which people are able to organize in this way are going to do better than those that don't.) Society and economics: If there is simply a general shortage of kids (regardless of whether they are your kids), that eventually shows up as rising prices for labor -- including the "caring labor" you pay for in an assisted living complex (or whatever). If that gets more expensive, then having grandma move in becomes comparatively more reasonable. But if grandma has no grandkids, then grandma definitely doesn't have that option.