Consider the parents caring for adult children not in work or education | Letter

One reader was surprised by how many people responding to Annalisa Barbieri’s advice column equate successful parenting with independence

Reading the comments below Annalisa Barbieri’s latest advice column online (I wish my son wanted to spend more time with me, 28 June), I was struck by how many people equated successful parenting with raising independent adult children.

But life isn’t always that straightforward. There is a largely invisible generation of midlife parents still caring for adult children who remain Neets – not in employment, education or training. Many are living with neurodivergence, severe mental illness, post-Covid syndrome or chronic ill health.