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.

Over the past decades, there has been an increase in overall life expectancy and the average age in Britain.

This

has led to a higher demand for nursing

homes

as the population aged

further

. Families and relatives of the elderly sometimes rely on

government

funding to support the

care

their parents or grandparents receive. In my view, the

government

has to support nursing

homes

as they have become critical institutions to

care

for people in their twilight years.

First

, the need for nursing houses has risen sharply not only due to people living longer but, it is

also

fuelled by a general decline of women staying home as homemakers as female participation in the labour force increased.

As a result

, elderly parents who might need constant

care

because of illness often find no one from their families to

care

for them.

Therefore

, people generally feel safer having their elderly loved ones in a home where they are cared for by professional nurses.

However

, good

care

homes

are expensive to run and as a consequence, accommodation costs have risen in the past years. Not all families are able to afford

such

care

, and the

government

has stepped in to assist through several means,

such

as assistance programmes and subsidies targeting nursing

homes

in poorer areas. While some, particularly conservatives, argue that the cost of those programmes is too high, others claim that

this

cost can be covered through the usual fundraising methods,

for example

, tax increases and deductions. To summarise, nursing

homes

will only become more commonplace in the future as Britons on average work more and live longer, and the

government

will have an obligation to fund nursing

homes

so that all the elderly receive proper

care

to ensure dignity in their old age.