The grandparents, keys in the family
The family is the most important institution of a society and nothing would be of it without the figure of the grandparents. With the arrival of the crisis, many parents had to make important efforts to make ends meet. Some studies show that grandparents helped them with their pensions to get ahead.
For these things, for their love and for being the voice of the experience at home, from Family Action They want us to understand that we have to "help the family in all its dimensions".
Acción Familiar is a non-profit association that aims to promote, through publications, workshops and information sessions, the social recognition of the family. It is a non-governmental organization that promotes and strengthens that institution from the investigation of the difficulties it faces. It provides direct attention and focuses mainly on the most disadvantaged families.
A book that teaches how to love as a family
In its latest publication, Older people and intergenerational solidarity in the family, presents a very interesting study about the figure of the grandparents. It is an investigation that shows that older people contribute values, training and resources in the form of time and money. Also many other important things for the better functioning of society. The authors of the work are: María Teresa López, Viviana González and Antonio Jesús Sánchez, specialists in Economics, Political Science and Mathematics, respectively, so one of the potentials of this book is that it includes a multidisciplinary study analyzed from very different perspectives. This offers a much more rigorous and extensive range of solutions.
Why grandparents in the family are important
- Because to the grandparents the authority gives the time
- Because the grandparents have allowed us to grow
- Because the grandparents were also young
- Because we will all be older
- For your affection and emotional stability
- Because the harshness of the crisis has been mitigated by the role of grandparents
- Because grandparents are the mirror in which we have to look
- The grandparents are an example of generosity and a great source of knowledge
- Grandparents are not a burden but a role model
- They are the pillar of the family
There is a loss of appreciation of the time devoted to the family. It is considered that every minute in your company or every second invested in your care is unproductive in economic terms and has no social value. We do not realize that the elderly are the key to the redistribution of income in Spain and a constant source of wisdom and learning. Pensions double their value when they collaborate in the return of young people who did not have the resources to cover their expenses. Grandparents are a bond with tremendous strength and their presence makes coexistence from love easier.
Is the family, as an institution, in crisis?
The family as an institution is not in crisis. Yes, it is the people and the relationships that exist between them. These are conclusions drawn from the study we present. Therefore, we need to strengthen the role of the family as a latent network of support that is always present and reactivated when we face difficult situations.
The formation of children in solidarity is very important in this sense but it is also essential that we trust in the benefits of good care for those who once cared for us. We have to preach by example and through the assimilation of the teachings of this manual of practical aspiration we can achieve it. After all, it is a book that, in the words of the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, Mr. Íñigo Menéndez de Vigo, should be used to make concrete decisions for having been treated by specialists with much to contribute intellectually. The Minister considers that a firm commitment is necessary to demystify the sense of the family's non-productivity.
That family and friends are our most precious treasure is something that we are clear about and that we have been learning over the years. Now we have to transmit it to our children through education, which, as the Minister said in the presentation of the book paraphrasing Celaya, "is a weapon loaded with the future."
Following a logical concatenation of metaphors the Minister also said that the grandparents are the "sherpas of the family" because they are opening the way for us and that is something that we have to learn to value.
Elisa García
