PhnomPenhPost-Sept 29, 2022
A research study by World Vision Cambodia found that older people in the Kingdom face significant challenges related to health, stress and financial stability – some of it associated with their role caring for grandchildren in place of the child’s parents. One in three of the Kingdom’s seniors are taking care of their grandchildren or other relatives’ children in place of their parents – typically because of the employment situation – and these responsibilities place significant additional burdens on the elderly, according to the research study report published on September 27. Touch Channy – head of the General Department of Social Services at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation – said seniors already face many challenges and when they reach old age, they typically do have problems with their health, as is the case in any country. He said his ministry is working on solving these problems, noting that one initiative which has proven popular is the establishment of senior citizen associations that now exist in many commune to help the elderly with all manner of difficulties and challenges, including those who are seriously ill or dying. Ou Vanda, director of the Aging Cambodians Network, said the elderly are very vulnerable in terms of their finances and the onset of health problems. Now, he said, they are taking on burdens from their children by raising grandchildren, making it even more difficult for them. In 2019 the International Organization for Migration (IOM) found that in families with parents who migrated abroad for work, more than 99 per cent of the time it was the grandparents who were taking care of their grandchildren back home. It said there were an estimated 1.2 million Cambodian migrant workers at present with the majority of them employed in Thailand. Read more at: https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/one-third-cambodias-seniors-caring-grandchildren-study-finds
