Hello Nigel! In my family, my parents never obliged us (children) to help. It is in our nature that we help family members who are in need. My parents also told us that we can assist financially but only to the extent wherein we can afford. It has never been the children's obligation to provide the needs of the rest of the family members. Unfortunately, some family members wouldn't work their off and just wait for the financial assistance they get from other family members. Like the popular English idiomatic "have one's cake and eat it too."