Exploring the Causes of Gendered Elder Care Burden in South Korea

Abstract

This paper investigates the reasons behind gender inequality in the responsibility for elder care in the case of South Korea. Specifically, to address this general research question, three sub-questions have been proposed: whether the differences in social resources by gender, or the different responses to similar resources by gender, are responsible for heavier elder care burdens for female members in the family. In addition, to what extent did the Korean welfare policies promote gender quality in elder care? Using quantitative data from Statistics Korea (KOSIS) and OECD, along with qualitative data from preceding research conducted by Sirin Sung in 2003, the study reveals that the results support the different resource argument to a great extent, whilst the data less support the different response argument. The study also finds that the current welfare policy implemented by the Korean government had alleviated the burden of providing elder care by family, but the effect of which on gender equality was limited.