오롯이 내 몫이 된 부모 돌봄 경험에 대한 현상학적 연구: 일과 돌봄 양립 경험을 중심으로

초록

This study explores the experiences of middle-aged adult children in South Korea who have assumed primary responsibility for caring for aging parents in a super-aged society. Using a phenomenological approach, it examines how parental caregiving intersects with paid work, identity, and everyday life. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with nine men and women aged from their forties to early sixties who were current or former primary caregivers. Data were analyzed using Giorgi’s phenomenological method, yielding seven main themes and twenty-two subthemes. The findings show that caregiving was shaped less by voluntary choice than by structural and relational conditions, including family role expectations, gendered norms, and sibling dynamics. Participants experienced conflicts between work and caregiving, career disruption, and emotional exhaustion. At the same time, some described caregiving as a process through which emotional relationships with parents and personal life meanings were reconfigured. These findings suggest that parental caregiving is not merely a family obligation but an existential process affecting caregivers’ life trajectories. The study underscores the limits of current care policies and calls for integrated, community-based support systems that address both caregivers and care recipients.

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