Koreans increasingly favor shared responsibility for older adult care, survey finds

Middle-aged Koreans increasingly say caring for aging parents should no longer fall on families alone, as attitudes toward both older adult care and housework shift sharply.

Those who believe that families, the government and society should shoulder the care of older adults together rose from 49 percent in 2014 to 65 percent in 2024, according to survey results released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Monday.

In addition, the share of people who believed families alone should bear the responsibility fell 13.2 percentage points, from 29.8 percent to 16.7 percent.

The shift was particularly pronounced among people aged 60 to 64, where those who favored shared responsibility jumped 22.3 percentage points to 63.7 percent. It reflects the squeeze on people in their early 60s, who often find themselves caring for aging parents just as their own children are leaving home.

Middle-aged adults also showed improved financial readiness.

The share of middle-aged adults preparing for retirement or already prepared rose from 75.8 percent in 2015 to 81.9 percent in 2025, an increase of 6.1 percentage points.

The figure increased by 3.5 percentage points among men and 8.8 percentage points among women.

The shift reflects growing awareness that longer life expectancy makes personal preparation increasingly important for financially secure retirement.

The analysis, based on the ministry’s biennial social survey, examined changes in the role of middle-aged adults within families, employment and financial circumstances, retirement preparation and social support, as well as health and leisure.

Attitudes toward housework shifted even more dramatically. Support for an equal division of household chores between spouses rose from 37.9 percent in 2014 to 64.4 percent in 2024 over the decade.

Practice, however, lagged far behind attitudes. Just 22.1 percent said they actually shared housework equally in 2024, up from 14.2 percent a decade earlier.

Anxiety about job security eased over the decade. Among employed middle-aged adults, the share concerned about losing or changing jobs fell 5.2 percentage points, from 61 percent in 2015 to 55.8 percent in 2025.

Household finances also showed signs of improvement. The share reporting higher income than a year earlier rose to 23.8 percent from 17.7 percent, while those reporting an increase in debt fell to 22.6 percent from 26.6 percent.

The financial strain of educating children eased over the decade, though private education remained costly for families. The share who described their children’s education expenses as a burden dropped 8 percentage points from 70.6 percent in 2014 to 62.6 percent in 2024.

The pressure increasingly came from expenses beyond regular school fees. The share of people who identified those costs as their biggest burden rose from 60.1 percent to 70.8 percent. The figure reached 86.9 percent among people in their 40s.

The share of middle-aged adults who received regular health checkups and rated their own health positively also increased, while reported stress in daily life and at work declined slightly over the decade.

“People in middle age are going through a period of transition that brings changes to family life, work, health and retirement,” Data and Statistics Minister Ahn Hyung-jun said. “We will continue to provide data that can help shape policies for each stage of life.”

BY JANG WON-SEOK [[email protected]]