Unpacking Family Caregiving Types for Older Adults in South Korea: Insights from Time Use Indicators

Population aging has led to an increase in the amount of time families spend providing unpaid care to older members of Korean society. However, there is limited understanding of these caregivers’ daily time allocation and their perceptions of time use. To address these limitations and gain insight into caregivers’ daily lives, we examine the family caregivers’ daily experience by analyzing six objective and subjective indicators related to time use. The data on caregiving for older adults was retrieved from the 2018 South Korean Family Caring Survey ( N = 501). We applied Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) to develop family caregiving types. The study identified five distinct family caregiving types based on six different time-use indicators. These types illustrate variations in socioeconomic status, available social resources, and support utilization among family caregivers. The research delineates both ‘manageable’ and ‘unfavorable’ caregiving types and compares the differences. Through analysis and discussion, the study delves into the policy implications of these findings for formal long-term care services and to empower family caregivers.