An AI-generated illustration showing Korean grandmothers' so-called multiple caregiving, where they take care of their husbands and grandchildren [CHATGPT]
A 74-year-old woman cares for her husband, who has undergone surgery for a brain tumor as well as heart and knee conditions. He has also suffered from meningitis, sepsis and fractured ribs. For the past 40 years, she cared for her mother-in-law, who became widowed at 33.
Now she has taken on raising her daughters’ children. After helping raise two grandchildren from her older daughter, she thought her burden was finally over — only for her younger daughter to have a child as well. With both parents working, she felt she had no choice but to provide child care.
“Since my 20s, my body has completely broken down. It’s because of all that stress,” she said.
Her experience is one of the 21 stories featuring grandparents, mostly women, released by the Korean Women’s Development Institute on Friday as part of its “Research on Grandchild Care Within Families and Policy Measures” (translated). The report highlights women trapped in what it describes as a triple burden of caregiving — for mothers-in-law, husbands and grandchildren.
The institute conducted an online survey of 1,063 grandparents between the ages of 55 and 74 who care for grandchildren under 10 years old. All respondents had provided care for more than 15 hours a week over the previous six months. Researchers also conducted in-depth interviews with 21 participants.
The grandparents surveyed care for grandchildren an average of 4.6 days a week and 6.04 hours a day. About 17 percent spend more than 8.5 hours a day providing care.
Nearly 48 percent said they receive no compensation. About 34.6 percent said they regularly receive money from their children, averaging 773,000 won ($530) a month.
Grandmothers carry out most caregiving duties. There is only one activity grandfathers do more often — taking grandchildren outside to play. For nearly everything else, grandmothers bear the brunt of feeding, dressing and bathing children.
“My husband doesn’t know how to play with the child,” said a 62-year-old woman. “He makes the baby cry. The baby doesn’t like it, but he keeps doing things his own way. It’s exhausting because of my husband.”
Many grandparents spend entire days traveling back and forth between their children’s homes.
An illustration of women's household chores [JOONGANG ILBO]
One 70-year-old woman wakes up at 5 a.m. and travels 30 minutes to her daughter’s home. She helps her daughter prepare for work and returns home only after watching her eat dinner after work. Beyond caring for her grandchild, she also shops for groceries, cleans and manages household chores in place of her daughter — a form of double caregiving.
Many respondents said they had effectively taken over routine housework for their children’s households.
“One person asked me, ‘Why are you even doing all that? Do they pay you a daily wage?’ But when I look at my daughter, I just can't help feel sorry for her,” one woman said. She spends two hours commuting every day.
About 51.1 percent of respondents also said they shoulder “multiple caregiving” responsibilities, simultaneously caring for children, spouses or other family members.
Ma Kyoung-hee, a senior research fellow at the institute, described the phenomenon as an “extended family” model in which middle-aged and older caregivers not only raise grandchildren but also take on responsibility for their adult children’s households.
Despite their affection for their grandchildren, many grandparents said they did not voluntarily choose the role. About 53.3 percent said they did not want to provide care but could not refuse after considering their children’s circumstances. Many said they felt sorry for their working children and believed they had no alternative. Grandmothers tended to feel this pressure more strongly, according to the report.
Still, respondents also reported positive effects from caring for grandchildren. About 81 percent said their relationships with their grandchildren improved. Among men, 74 percent said their relationships with their children improved, compared to 67 percent of women. About 48 percent of men and 42 percent of women also said their relationships with their spouses improved.
“Older men often experience isolation after retirement because they spent most of their lives focused on work,” Ma said. “When they begin caring for grandchildren, they take on a role within the family and develop greater emotional closeness.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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