— Overview
This is one household, not a national count. A 72-year-old with mid-stage dementia lives with a couple in their fifties and a granddaughter in her twenties; no real names are used. About once a day the person does not recognize the family, wants a particular place at a particular time, and forgets meals. Care falls on the daughter-in-law rather than a nursing home, in a patriarchal household; the marriage is strained, and the granddaughter’s privacy is invaded.
The woman in her fifties is the main caregiver, and her labor is not recognized. The man in his fifties faces honor retirement without preparation, along with treatment and living costs. Because two women can provide care, the subsidy stays small, a social worker visits weekly, and support for nursing-home costs is refused. Residual welfare, as this account describes it, gives a minimum when family and market fail, with low benefits, strict means-testing, and eligibility rather than need.
The writer says Korea has not clearly established residual-welfare standards, and should move toward institutional, universal provision with higher benefits.
— Contents and key concepts
One household, and care that stays inside it
The interview follows one household, and no official national total of people with dementia is added here. A 72-year-old with mid-stage dementia lives with a couple in their fifties and a granddaughter in her twenties. No real names are used. About once a day the person does not recognize the family, wants a particular place at a particular time, and forgets meals.
The household is described as patriarchal. Care is taken on by the daughter-in-law rather than being moved to a nursing home. The marriage is under strain. The granddaughter’s privacy is invaded. The woman in her fifties is the main caregiver, and her labor is not recognized as such. The man in his fifties faces honor retirement without preparation, and the costs of treatment and of daily life sit with the family.
When two women can care, the state stays residual
Because two women in the household can provide care, the subsidy stays small. A social worker visits weekly. Support for the cost of a nursing home is refused. Residual welfare, as this account describes it, steps in at a minimum when the family and the market fail. Benefits are low. Means-testing is strict. What is tested is eligibility, not need.
The writer’s judgment is that Korea has not clearly established the standards of residual welfare, and should move toward institutional, universal provision with higher benefits. A nursing home may ease the stress on the family, the writer says, but the family would still have to pay. State support for care at home, in this household, is not effective. Those conclusions stay with the interview and with the writer’s view; they are not turned into a later official count.
Sources
- an interview-based account of one household living with mid-stage dementia — a 72-year-old, a couple in their fifties, and a granddaughter in their twenties — and of residual welfare in which, because two women can provide care, the subsidy stays small, nursing-home cost support is refused, and the writer argues that Korea has not clearly established residual-welfare standards.
Last updated: 14 November 2026
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