Households with Disabled Parents and Single-Parent Families at 'High Risk' Across All Life Areas... Seoul City to Develop Countermeasures

Seoul City-Seoul Welfare Foundation Conduct Planning Research to Identify and Support High-Risk Disabled Households
Half of Family Caregivers Have No One to Ask for Help and Manage Alone... Care Gaps Due to COVID-19, Difficulties Worsened by Economic Activity Suspension

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Households with disabled parents, where one or both adoptive parents have disabilities, single-parent households raising disabled children alone, and low-income households were found to have higher levels of crisis across all areas of life compared to other households with disabilities.

On the 24th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, together with the Seoul Welfare Foundation, conducted a study on support measures for high-risk families with disabilities and announced the research results. This study included a survey on the perception of crisis levels and risk factors among families with disabilities, interviews with families with disabilities, and feedback from field workers, summarizing the crisis levels in ten life areas and the types and characteristics of high-risk disabled households.

Participants in the interviews, including family members with disabilities and field workers, identified the representative characteristics of high-risk families with disabilities as ▲vulnerable family structures ▲economic hardship ▲excessive caregiving burden due to challenging behaviors ▲health problems of family caregivers ▲family isolation and poor social support systems ▲barriers to accessing benefits and services.

For example, single parents who care for disabled children alone often face difficulties in economic activities due to the lack of places or people to entrust their children to, leading to financial hardship. Even when they are ill, they frequently cannot take adequate rest or receive proper treatment.

Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, families bearing caregiving burdens alone, such as single-parent or grandparent-headed households, experienced caregiving gaps when the caregiver was diagnosed with COVID-19 or became ill, as there was no one to substitute. Families with children or grandchildren with developmental disabilities saw an increase in challenging behaviors due to difficulties in expressing frustrations through outdoor activities caused by social distancing measures, which intensified caregiving burdens.

Mental health issues among family caregivers were also found to be serious. About 36.7% of family caregivers reported experiencing mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, and 35.0% said they had thought about or actually attempted extreme measures. The main causes were identified as ‘caregiving stress’ (75.5%), ‘economic problems’ (68.6%), and ‘depression and anxiety’ (66.5%).

Kim Hyun-seung, a research fellow at the Seoul Welfare Foundation, emphasized that the problems faced by high-risk disabled households are not simply due to caregiving stress. He explained that the vulnerability of family structures, such as in single-parent disabled households, negatively affects the care of disabled children, parental health issues, economic pressure, and social relationships in a continuous manner, endangering overall life. He added, “A meticulous policy approach targeting relatively vulnerable high-risk families with disabilities is necessary.”

Meanwhile, since September last year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has expanded the installation of Disability Family Support Centers to all autonomous districts, strengthening tailored case management and caregiving support systems for families with disabilities. It is also promoting various rest and leisure services to reduce caregiving burdens and restore social relationships for families with disabled members, such as the Disabled Caregiver Family Leave System.

Based on this research, Seoul plans to continuously implement measures to build a social safety net for high-risk disabled households, including ▲expanding disability activity support services and identifying and supporting high-risk disabled households through 176 disability activity support institutions ▲strengthening tailored caregiving support through 25 autonomous district Disability Family Support Centers ▲reducing family burdens by expanding the scope of the Caregiver Family Leave System and family rest support for families with developmental disabilities.

Gu Jong-won, Director of Welfare Planning at Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, “Seoul will promote policies that high-risk disabled households can genuinely feel through this research and create a safe city that improves the quality of life for families with disabilities.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.