An aging society in which the proportion of the aged of a society is growing faster than the of the young is becoming an worldwide phenomenon owing to low birth rate, the upgraded medical art and so on. Korea is one of the most rapidly aging societies...
An aging society in which the proportion of the aged of a society is growing faster than the of the young is becoming an worldwide phenomenon owing to low birth rate, the upgraded medical art and so on. Korea is one of the most rapidly aging societies in the world today. Since aging society is totally different from the traditional society in the many field, potential problems must be expected and countermeasure must be considered.
Previous experiences of other nations imply that rapid aging has serous impacts on employment, wages, pension systems, and demand for welfare. One of the potential problems it may cause is the issue of supporting subject of the aged. Parent-supporting and welfare for the aged become important social issues. Especially the supporting of the aged woman is more important issue because of their longer average life than man and their exposure to sexual discrimination and their welfare is very important issue of social welfare system.
Accordingly the purpose of this study is to present the practical countermeasure to the supporting of the aged woman. The prior studies on the supporting of the aged woman has been focused on the responsibility of supporting subject : "Who is responsible for the supporting of the aged?". These studies can be divided into traditional approach which insists on the family supporting and modern approach which asserts government(or social) supporting.
Comprehensive literature study reveals that both of government and family are responsible for the supporting of the aged woman. But a full examination of pros and cons of the both alternatives presents that the practical way is family support. Some reasons are as follows.
- social infrastructure of the welfare system is not well-developed to support the aged
- 'family ties' is still one of the most important morality of Korean society
- the aged's preference of family supporting to government supporting.
- family welfare is considered as good starting point of social welfare.
Although there is no one-best-way, family supporting is practical countermeasure for the supporting of the aged woman at least for the time being. But it has its own limitations to generalize the implications of this study.
- social infrastructure is developing
- 'family ties' is not everlasting
- the preference can be changed