[Inside Chodong] Young People Whose Youth Is Mortgaged for Caregiving

"I am already struggling to live my own life as one person, so I don't know how to accept living as two people, having to take care of another person as well. The gap was too big when I met my friends. Taking care of sick and weak family members makes me feel depressed and powerless too. My peers have parents who are still active, but I don't, so I have no appropriate adult to ask and no guardian."

This is the heartrending voice of young family caregivers. On the 26th of last month, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the results of the first-ever government-level survey on young family caregivers. Young family caregivers refer to youths and adolescents aged 13 to 34 who take care of family members requiring care due to severe illness, disability, or mental illness, or who are responsible for their livelihood. Overseas, they are called "Young Carers."

In the UK, the Children and Families Act was enacted in 2014, requiring local governments to identify the status of young carers, and a system was established to provide caregiver allowances to those aged 16 or older who provide at least 35 hours of care services per week to others. Australia operates a tuition assistance program for young carers aged 12 to 25, and in Japan, Saitama Prefecture enacted the country's first young carer support ordinance in March 2020.

On the other hand, South Korea had not even properly identified how many young carers there are. According to overseas studies, about 5-8% of the adolescent population provides family care, and the National Assembly Research Service estimated that there are approximately 184,000 to 295,000 young carers in Korea.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's first survey results, young family caregivers spend an average of 21.6 hours per week on caregiving. The health conditions of the family members they care for include severe illnesses, disabilities, mental illnesses, long-term care certification grades, dementia, and so on. The average duration of caregiving was 46 months, with more than half providing care for over two years. The proportion of respondents who were dissatisfied with their lives was more than twice that of general youths, and the rate of depression was more than seven times higher.

It is not surprising that deaths caused by family caregiving have been reported one after another. On the 16th of last month, a villa in Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi Province, was found with a 60-year-old couple and their daughter in her 20s dead together. Before her death, the daughter sent a reservation message to the police containing the home address and password. Based on a note stating "I am taking care of my sick parents," the police believe the daughter first killed her parents with a weapon and then took her own life.

Earlier, in May 2021, a young man in his 20s in Daegu left his severely ill and immobile father unattended for a long time, resulting in his death. The son's story, who had been struggling with poverty while caring for his father alone, became known to the world as the "young family caregiver's caregiving murder case."

As this issue gained social attention, the government and local governments have begun to take action, albeit belatedly. The Seoul Youth Activity Support Center has been implementing tailored support projects for young carers, including education, leisure, and caregiving, through the first recruitment in December last year and the second recruitment in May this year. Although the scale is woefully insufficient, with about 100 participants per session and a budget of around 70 million won, it is hoped that this successful case will spread nationwide.

It is time for welfare authorities to listen to the voices of adolescents and youths who have lost their dreams and had their youth mortgaged due to family caregiving, and to actively support them so they do not give up on their future.

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