100세 시대 대비 여성노인의 가족돌봄과 지원방안 연구

The profile of family caregiving as provided by female older adults in Korea

Ⅰ. 연구개요 1. 연구의 필요성 및 목적 □ 급속한 고령화 및 가치관, 가족구조의 변화 등으로 많은 여성노인이 배우자 돌봄, 손자녀 양육, 노부모 돌봄 등 가족의 주돌봄자로서 역할을 수행하고 있음. 특히, 핵가족화, 돌봄에 대한 가치관 변화 등으로 성인자녀에 의한 노인돌봄이 어려워지면서 배우자의 역할이 커지고 있음. 동시에 성인자녀를 지원하기 위해 노후 손자녀를 돌보는 노인의 수도 증가하고 있음. □ 많은 여성노인이 배우자 돌봄, 손자녀 양육, 노부모 돌봄 등 가족의 주돌봄자로서 역할을 수행함에도 불구하고, 여성노인의 가족돌봄은 저평가되고 있으며, 사회적 관심을 받지 못하고 있음. ○ 선행연구는 주로 노인을 돌보는 성인자녀의 부양부담과 그 경감방안에 초점을 맞추고 있어 노년기 배우자 돌봄에 관한 연구는 드문 상황임. ○ 노인의 손자녀 돌봄에 관한 연구 역시 조손가족 연구를 중심으로 이루어져 조부모의 손자녀 돌봄은 사회복지적 관심의 사각지대에 놓여왔음. □ 따라서 본 연구에서는 노년기가 장기화되는 100세 시대를 대비하여 여성노인에 의한 가족돌봄 중 배우자 돌봄과 손자녀 돌봄 현황을 살펴보고, 여성노인이 배우자나 손자녀를 돌볼 때 경험하게 되는 긍정적인 경험 및 다양한 어려움, 지원제도 이용실태를 파악하는 것을 목적으로 함. 이와 함께 여성노인의 부양부담을 경감시키고 삶의 질을 향상시킬 수 있는 정책 지원욕구를 파악하여 제도보완 및 새로운 정책개발에 대한 시사점을 제공함. 2. 연구의 주요 내용 □ 본 연구에서는 고령화 시대의 가족돌봄 이슈 및 가족돌봄자를 위한 주요정책을 점검하고 여성노인에 의한 가족돌봄 현황을 파악하고자 함. 동시에 여성노인이 인지하고 있는 주요 제도 및 제도이용 현황을 파악하고 이에 대한 만족도 및 정책지원 욕구를 분석하여 제도보완의 시사점을 제공하고자 함. 본 연구의 주요 연구문제는 다음과 같음. 1) 노년기에 가족돌봄의 주된 역할을 수행하는 여성노인의 수는 얼마나 되는가? 2) 가족돌봄의 주된 역할을 수행하는 여성노인의 가족돌봄 현황(예: 돌봄기간 및 시간, 돌봄이유, 여성노인의 건강, 사회경제적 상태 등)은 어떠한가? 3) 가족돌봄의 주된 역할을 수행하는 여성노인의 삶의 질은 어떠한가? 4) 여성노인의 가족돌봄을 지원하는 제도에 관한 인지도 및 이용현황은 어떠한가? 5) 가족을 돌보는 여성노인이 필요로 하는 정책지원 욕구는 무엇인가?

Due to ongoing rapid population aging, changes in functioning of the family and shifts in related values, and the rise in the rate of female labor participation, the numbers of female older adults serving as the principal caregivers for their dependent spouse or young grandchildren are increasing significantly. Still, the care provided by female older adults has been undervalued, and thus few studies have to date examined their caregiving work. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively examine female older adults' family caregiving work. The pertinent research questions were as follows: 1) How many female older adults care for a dependent spouse or for one or more young grandchildren (under age seven) in South Korea? 2) Why and to what extent is family caregiving work provided by female older adults (e.g., reasons for caregiving, time spent in caregiving work, duration of caregiving, level of public and private service utilization for the reduction of the caregiving burden, overall caregiving burden)? 3) How does family caregiving work affect quality of life among female older adults? 4) What are the major challenges associated with family caregiving work and is there a need for policy intervention to reduce the caregiving burden? Both quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized for this study. To address research questions one and three, six data sets (2004, 2008, 2011 National Survey and Welfare Needs of Elders and Needs for Elderly Welfare Service; 2006, 2008, 2010 Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing) were analyzed. To address research questions two, three and four, data were collected from a purposive sample of 300 female older adults aged 60 and older who were the major care providers for their spouses and 300 female older adults aged 60 and older who were the major care providers for one or more grandchildren under age seven. All respondents were residing in the greater Seoul/Incheon/Gyeonggi metropolitan area. With respect to quantitative analysis, descriptive statistics and multivariate models were obtained using software from SAS and SPSS Statistics. The data collected for this study also entailed structured interviews (n=20) performed by our research team; informed consent was obtained from the participants. The structured interviews with female older adults lasted approximately 40-120 minutes and full recordings of the sessions were obtained and transcribed. For the qualitative analysis, a comprehensive content review of all data, including line-by-line analysis, was conducted. Using the 2004, 2008, and 2011 National Survey and Welfare Needs of Elders and Needs for Elderly Welfare Service data, we analyzed the number of female older adults taking care of either a dependent spouse or one or more grandchildren under the age of seven, and compared socioeconomic and health characteristics and quality of life among three groups: female older adults who took care of a dependent spouse, female older adults who took care of one or more grandchildren under the age of seven, and female older adults who did not provide any family caregiving. The results show that the absolute number and proportion of female older adults aged 65 and older who care for a dependent spouse is steadily increasing. When comparing the socioeconomic characteristics of female older adults who took care of a dependent spouse, cared for one or more young grandchildren, and those who did not provide family caregiving work, female older adults who took care of young grandchildren were relatively younger, showed higher educational attainment, and reported higher levels of household income compared to those who took care of a dependent spouse. In terms of health, female older adults who cared for young grandchildren were healthier and experienced a lower level of depression compared to those who provided care to a dependent spouse. In addition, among the three groups, quality of life proved the lowest among those female older adults