UDOMITELJSTVO ZA DJECU I MEĐUGENERACIJSKA SOLIDARNOST
FOSTER CARE FOR CHILDREN AND INTERGENERATIONAL SOLIDARITY

Summary/Abstract: Although the concept of intergenerational solidarity is very broad, it includes, among other things, mutual support, care, and cooperation between different generations within families and within society. Furthermore, foster care is defined as a form of care outside the biological family that provides a child with support and care in a stimulating and positive family environment. Since it involves placing a child in a foster family that is willing to take the child into their home–and with whom the child may or may not be related–intergenerational solidarity comes to the forefront. In the context of kinship foster care, intergenerational solidarity is reflected in the fact that adult members of the child’s family (aunts, uncles, grandparents, and other relatives) assume responsibility for caring for the child. In this way, the child remains in a familiar environment. On the other hand, traditional foster parents are not related to the child; they accept the child into their home for various intrinsic reasons that are also connected with intergenerational solidarity in its broader sense. From the perspective of intergenerational solidarity, foster care provides children with stability, emotional support, and a sense of belonging, while adults have the opportunity to participate in the lives of younger generations, which can enhance their emotional and social well-being. Furthermore, practice shows that, in addition to foster parents who provide daily care, other family members and even the wider community (through support networks, volunteer and humanitarian initiatives, community events, etc.) also contribute to caring for foster children. This reduces the burden on foster parents (e.g., by offering emotional, practical, or material support) and contributes to creating a stable and stimulating environment for the child. Foster care also enables the transmission of values such as solidarity, culture, and life experience between generations, as well as the building of intergenerational bonds. Foster care strengthens and connects the community through intergenerational cooperation and solidarity, and it is therefore not surprising that various public campaigns emphasize different aspects related to intergenerational collaboration and solidarity. Foster care is not only the responsibility of an individual or a family but also of the community. Given the difficulties in recruiting new foster families, the following question arises: does this indicate a crisis of intergenerational solidarity or a crisis of solidarity in general? Society can support foster parents and children in foster care through public policies, social services, and collective initiatives, thereby investing in the social capital of foster care and, in turn, in intergenerational connectedness and solidarity.

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