Being unemployed doesn’t mean someone else gets to decide what you should do with your life.

One man is dealing with that after his siblings decided he should care for their aging parents if they become ill.

Since they all have established careers, they believe he has the least to lose.

However, he still has goals of his own and hasn’t given up on finding work.

Now, he feels like he’s being asked to sacrifice his future because his career hasn’t taken off yet.

Read on to learn more about his situation.

AITA for refusing to take care of my parents?

27M Chinese here.

My culture has a rule I really dislike: that children are their parents’ default retirement plan.

I have 3 siblings. They are now all established in their careers and are making good money.

There’s a big reason he has a problem with it.

I have been unemployed against my will for several years now, and this gap alone is killing my upward potential.

My siblings want me to stay home and care for our parents in the event of an illness because I have the lowest career opportunity cost.

I have dreams and goals too, and I’m far from giving up. I don’t want to be stuck at home for the rest of my life taking care of people.

AITA?

Wow! That does sound very unfair to him.

Let’s see what the folks over at Reddit think he should do.

This person thinks his siblings are doing it on purpose.

That’s such a good point.

According to this comment, everyone needs to help.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a teenager who wants to work, but his mom thinks working past 8pm is too late for high school.

This reader gets it.

He’s not wrong for wanting a life of his own.

Just because his siblings have established careers doesn’t mean his time and goals matter less.

They need to stop deciding for him and figure out a plan that shares the responsibility.

What they need to remember is that being unemployed right now doesn’t make him the family’s permanent caregiver.