As the birthrate and aging population and the number of singles, late marriages, and divorces increase, the number of young people who are raising elderly and sick parents or grandparents alone is increasing in Korea.

Many people drop out of school, have difficulty finding a job, and fall into poverty because they have to bear the burden of supporting themselves.

In the UK and Australia, these young people are defined as 'young carers' and are supported by policy, but in Korea, even the concept of 'young carers' has not been established yet.

We have covered what kind of people they are, what kind of difficulties they face, and what kind of support they need in Korea.


burden of support → school suspension → job difficulties → poverty…

Do you know Young Career?



● The burden of support is due to school suspension…

On

the second day I decided to meet Ms.

Yeon-joo

(pseudonym), who was

born in 2000, who was supporting her grandmother with dementia in her 80s

, I couldn't reach her.

'Born in 2000 / Supporting elderly people with dementia in their 80s / Maintaining a livelihood with a nighttime part-time job at a convenience store / Account balance 2,580 won / Basic living expenses deposit after a week'...

On the day we first met, the memo I wrote while covering the story caught my eye.

I was fiddling with my phone saying, 'What's going on?' I got a call.

Last night, he overslept because he was working at a delivery company's warehouse and left work at 4 in the morning.

There were a lot of voices saying that the daily wage was 100,000 won, so the cost of living had been solved until a week after the supply and demand came in.



Grandma took care of Yeon-joo from stone and raised her.

It was on behalf of her mother, who divorced her husband and left Yeon-joo.

Every school entrance ceremony, he took his granddaughter to a department store to buy nice clothes and took care of her studies even at the age of 70.

The grandmother, who was like Wonder Woman, started showing symptoms of dementia five years ago when Yeon-joo's father suddenly disappeared.

He did not recognize the date and season, and repeated wandering around the neighborhood to find his son.

high 1.

At the age when she still needed protection, Yeon-joo became her grandmother's protector.


“Until then, Grandma took care of me, so it was my turn to look after her.


The absence of his father, who was responsible for his livelihood, led to hardships in life.

I had to break the 4 million won saved up to go to college.

Fortunately, Yeon-joo was designated as a recipient of basic livelihood in high school and received living expenses, and even under difficult circumstances, she entered a top-ranking university in Seoul, but it was entirely her responsibility to take care of her grandmother.

It was because the financial burden was too great to call a caregiver.

"My grandmother has dementia of grade 5. It costs 150,000 won a month to call a caregiver because the grade is low. It is a huge burden for us."




After taking care of her grandmother by herself at home, Yeongi had to stop studying at university.

It was because I had to quickly find a stable job that could support my grandmother.

Yeonju is preparing for the civil service exam while taking a leave of absence from school and working part-time at a convenience store.

When I went to the academy, the tuition was too expensive, and I couldn't leave my grandmother at home.

Yeonju is taking care of her grandmother with dementia 24 hours a day, preparing for the exam through online lectures.

Yeon-joo, who is now 22 years old, said that the time to bear the weight of the life of two people has come too quickly.


"My grandmother has done so much for me, so I tried to repay it, but I don't think I'm ready yet. I'm so sorry for that."



● "I want to serve you better... I'm worried about getting a job."

Another young carer, 25-year-old Jongmin (pseudonym), lives with his grandmother, who has limited mobility.

When Jong-min was 5 years old and his younger brother was 8 months old, the business failed.

The grandfather who raised Jong-min's brother for nearly 20 years died of cancer in 2018, and his grandmother, who went to public work around the same time, underwent hip joint surgery.

Jong-min is earning a living for three families with the money he earned while working as a working scholarship student at a local university.




Jong-min, who took responsibility for his livelihood at the age of 25, is the biggest worry about finding a job.

He said that he had no choice but to go to school and work to support his younger brother and grandmother, who are still students, but he had no choice but to neglect his studies and preparations for employment.


"It's not hard when you think of the time Grandma and Grandpa spent on us. Because they gave their old age to us. I want to take care of my grandmother better, but the future is a bit bleak. If I go back and forth, I don’t have a lot of time to study and prepare for a job.”


● The life left behind by 20 years of support…

give up on marriage.


Yoon Sang, who is 40 this year, has been supporting his single mother, who is unable to move due to a chronic illness for 20 years.

Mr. Yoon Sang, who has not done anything since he was in his twenties to support his single mother.


"I was taking care of my mother, so the economic situation was not good, and I only studied until high school. I tried car maintenance, started selling ice cream, and sold seaweed."


I did whatever I could, but it was not easy to support my mother alone, and four years ago, while selling seaweed, I got into a car accident and suffered from hardship.

After being unable to work for over two years, the cost of living dropped immediately.


"Because I don't have a job, I can't get a loan from a bank. I borrowed a loan from 4 financial institutions and used it for living expenses. I still have about 20 million won in debt. I still pay 500,000 won in interest every month."


It is said that Yoon Sang gave up many things in life due to his mother's support and hardship.

The saddest thing, he said, was giving up on marriage.


“There was a woman I really wanted to marry, but I had no money, and when I got married, there was no one to take care of my mother… so I gave up on marriage.”



● The vicious cycle of support burden and poverty… Young careers who are accustomed to giving up.

Yeon-joo, who had to stop studying because of the burden of support, Jong-min, who had a difficult future because of worries about finding a job, and Yoon-sang, who fell into poverty and gave up on marriage. All three are typical of the hardships young carers face. The burden of support leads to school interruption, which in turn makes it difficult to find a job and leads to hardships in life, giving up marriage and even preparing for retirement. Shim Hyung-rae, director of the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation, pointed out, "When you look at life cycle, your teens and 20s are the times when you have to prepare for self-reliance through learning and finding a job, but you can't take care of yourself because you are taking care of your parents or grandparents." In order to break the vicious cycle that the burden of support leads to poverty, developed countries in overseas welfare countries have been implementing policies to support young careers from the beginning, but Korea has not yet conducted a survey on them.



▶ Young Career ② [Report File] Young Career 490,000 UK, 230,000 Australia 'active support'... Korea is 'I don't know'


▶ Young

career③

[Report file] Young

career

under the water… Recognize, investigate, and support.