In Britain, when someone gets old they often go to live in a home with other old people where there are nurses to look after them. Sometimes the government has to pay for this care. Who do you think should pay for this care, the government or the family? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

In the last few decades, it is becoming ever so common for senior citizens to move to an old age home where they might meet like minded individuals of their age and receive 24x7 medical care from qualified nurses. One might wonder whether the responsibility for payments towards their care should fall on the family of the individual or the government? On the one hand, such individuals have spent their lifetime paying taxes while contributing to the development of the country. Thus, the least the government can do is to take care of such individuals once they are of age and in need of basic medicare. In fact a number of countries like India and South Korea provide highly subsidized health insurance to all of its citizens, with senior citizens receiving additional benefits. Finally, a number of older individuals might end up being without any close family due to a multitude of reasons from being abandoned to never having one in the first place. It would be unreasonable to expect them to continue sustaining themselves with the accumulating costs of their healthcare in such a scenario. On the other hand, expecting the government to take up the entire cost of an older person's living and care might be prohibitive and restrict its efforts towards other public welfare initiatives. A number of third world countries have equally serious problems such as poverty, women empowerment and unemployment which require significant funds and attention. Additionally, in scenarios where the person has sufficient savings or a supporting family that can take care of him, it is reasonable to expect the individual or family to take up the responsibility of living and health expenses. For example, a lot of older people in India choose to live with their children in a joint family setting. In closing, my belief is that the question of whether the government or family should pay for the living and care of senior citizens is highly dependent on one's scenario. In cases where the family is financially stable and willing to look after their elders, it should be the responsibility of the family. For those individuals which cannot be supported by their family and lack resources themselves, the government should offer highly subsidized living and medical care facilities.