Seven old people’s homes – four government-financed and three privately-owned ones – are working in Armenia, Anahit Gevorgyan of the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Security told NEWS.am.

She reported that 1,100 old people are currently in charge of the institutions, with 1,010 of them in government-financed and only 90 in privately-owned ones in Vanadzor, Gyumri and Abovyan. The daily allowance for one person is 2,860 AMD (less than U.S. $8), with 1,160 AMD of this amount provided for food. The situation is a little ‘better" at the Vanadzor mental home – 5,000 AMD per patient.

Gevorgyan said that the “charges’” relatives can hardly help them. Rather, it is grave social conditions that force people to send their old parents to nursing homes. Gevorgyan said not a single instance of children taking their parents back home has been registered over the last 20 years.