Abstract:
This chapter focuses on a qualitative study with 20 older adults and their family members
who are from different economic backgrounds in Jaffna District in northern Sri Lanka. The
participants were members of the Church of American Ceylon Mission of Sri Lanka. This
study was conducted to shed light on the unacknowledged roles and contributions of older
adults in a Sri Lankan Tamil Indigenous community. It is significant that Indigenous older
adults contributed to the well-being of their families and communities in many ways but
were rarely recognized and appreciated by the younger generation. Due to the impact of
globalization, Indigenous family systems are changing, and a nuclear family system is being
adopted. The study showed that the Indigenous elderly contributed to their families by
looking after their grandchildren and taking on responsibility for household chores. Some
of the older persons financially supported their children by giving some or all of their
pensions to them. Some participants stated that they sold their own properties to support
their adult children. Their children believed that in their community, looking after the
grandchildren is traditionally performed by grandparents. The adult children, reported
older adult participants, did not value their parents’ contributions because they believed
that their parents depended on them.
