Urpo Kangas, a Professor in Civil Law at Helsinki University, argues that adults should be obliged to pay for their elderly parents’ institutional care if their own pensions are insufficient to cover costs.
There was a similar provision in Finnish law as part of the 1922 Poor Relief Act. It was repealed in 1970 on the grounds that it was inappropriate for a welfare state_._
The professor notes that similar laws are still on the books in many European countries – and work well in practise.
"A crying need for justice"
Current Finnish law requires parents to care for their underage children while married people are responsible for their spouses.
According to Kangas, “there is a crying need for justice in cases where an adult child is very wealthy and living an extravagant lifestyle but has abandoned his or her own parents.”
Kangas accuses politicians of being unwilling to even discuss the issue. He suggests that if there is insufficient support for a return to the old law, another alternative would be a change to legislation so that inheritance is not automatically divided equally among one’s offspring.
“If the Code of Inheritance is changed, a father or mother would have the right to reward those offspring who have helped them, kept them in mind and taken care of them in their old age,” Kangas proposes.
On the other hand, he notes, countries that make adult children financially responsible for their parents do allow some exceptions.
“If a parent needs monetary support because of alcoholism or a criminal lifestyle that can be deemed self-inflicted, then their children are rarely required to pay for their upkeep,” Kangas points out.
