Sources for this article: This post draws on both Korean and U.S. data. Each piece of information is labeled 🇰🇷 Korea or 🇺🇸 U.S. in the text to indicate which country it applies to.
Do you ever leave for work in the morning and suddenly wonder whether you remembered to set out your parent's medications — or sit through a meeting with your stomach in knots, afraid your phone might ring? Working caregivers are far from rare. 🇺🇸 U.S. According to a 2024 report by AARP and S&P Global, 61% of the roughly 48 million family caregivers in the United States are managing caregiving alongside a job. Of those, 67% said it is difficult to balance work and caregiving.
🇺🇸 U.S. The AARP Public Policy Institute's 2026 report, "Valuing the Invaluable," found that the economic value of care provided by the 59 million family caregivers in the United States over the course of 2024 exceeded $1 trillion — a figure that surpasses total U.S. Medicaid spending. Caregiving may not be counted as "work," but in reality it is an enormous form of labor that props up society as a whole.
🇺🇸 U.S. Research also shows that among employed caregivers, 27% have reduced their hours from full-time to part-time, 16% have turned down a promotion, and 16% have stopped working entirely for a period of time. Career interruptions and lost income put caregivers' own retirement security at risk as well. 🇺🇸 U.S. A 2024 study from Columbia University found that caregivers who begin caregiving at an earlier age face up to a 90% higher risk of having insufficient retirement savings compared with non-caregivers.
🇰🇷 Korea In Korea, there are programs in place for people who need to care for a family member while staying employed. The 가족돌봄휴가 (Family Care Leave) allows employees to take up to 10 days per year, one day at a time, when a parent suddenly needs care due to illness, accident, or old age. You can contact the 고용노동부 (Ministry of Employment and Labor) Customer Consultation Center (☎1350) for guidance on how to apply. For situations requiring extended care, the 가족돌봄휴직 (Family Care Leave of Absence) program allows up to 90 days of leave per year. One important point to keep in mind: the leave period counts toward your length of service, so it does not disadvantage you when it comes to promotions or retirement benefit calculations.
Having a program available and feeling comfortable actually using it are two different things. 🇺🇸 U.S. A reluctance to disclose caregiving responsibilities at work has also been documented. In one study, only 28% of caregivers acknowledged that caregiving had limited their wages or career advancement, and more than half of employers were not even aware of the caregiving burdens their employees were carrying. The atmosphere in which it feels difficult to reveal a caregiver role at work is not very different in Korea.
So what can you do to protect your job while also caring well for your parent? First, find out which programs you are entitled to use. Beyond the 가족돌봄휴가 and 가족돌봄휴직 described above, quietly check with your HR department whether your company offers an EAP (Employee Assistance Program) or flexible work arrangements. Second, stop trying to handle everything alone. Dividing responsibilities with siblings or other family members, or supplementing care with local 재가서비스 (in-home care services), can give you a little breathing room on both the work and caregiving fronts. Third, check in on your own physical and mental health regularly. 🇺🇸 U.S. Statistics show that 40–70% of caregivers experience symptoms of depression, which speaks to just how quietly the stress of managing both work and caregiving accumulates in a caregiver's body and mind.
Sources: AARP·S&P Global 2024 Working While Caregiving Report; AARP Public Policy Institute "Valuing the Invaluable 2026"; Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health·Otsuka 2024 Caregiving Valuation Study; SeniorLiving.org 2024 Family Caregiver Annual Report; 대한민국 고용노동부 (Republic of Korea Ministry of Employment and Labor) guidance on 가족돌봄휴가 및 가족돌봄휴직 제도 (gov.kr); 보건복지부 (Ministry of Health and Welfare) 2024 Survey on Public Mental Health Knowledge and Attitudes.
Note: This article was compiled by AI from the sources cited above. We strive for accuracy, but for decisions about your specific situation, please confirm the latest guidance from a professional or the relevant agency.