Elderly Care and Upwards Solidarity : Historical, Sociological and Legal Perspectives

This book examines the legal and societal challenges facing ageing nations in Europe. With a focus on informal care, it poses the question of how, in light of historical and socio-demographic changes, we can take care of our elderly.

A book series dedicated to the harmonisation and unification of family and succession law in Europe. The series includes comparative legal studies and materials as well as studies on the effects of international and European law making within the national legal systems in Europe. The books are published in English, French or German under the auspices of the Organising Committee of the Commission on European Family Law (CEFL). The ageing population poses a huge challenge to law and society and has important structural and institutional implications. This book portrays elder law as an emerging research area and brings together authors from different disciplines (history, sociology and law) and from different legal jurisdictions (Austria, Belgium, England, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain). Topics discussed inter alia include: the recognition of informal care in private law and in inheritance law, the question of whether special consumer protection is needed for the elderly, intergenerational support duty between children and their parents, and public law offering options to support informal care by means of leaves for employees. In doing so, this book reflects on the allocation of responsibilities between different actors and answers questions at an institutional level: what is the role of the state, the family and the individual in taking care of the elderly? This book will appeal to academic scholars and postgraduate students of law and social sciences.