Mother-in-law Who Underwent Back Surgery Asked Daughter to Care for Her
"I Wasn't Trying to Get Just 100,000 Won," Daughter Angrily Responds
A story about a daughter who got angry, saying the money she received for caring for her grandmother was too little, has become a hot topic among netizens. On the 27th, a post titled "Is 100,000 won considered a small amount for high school students these days?" was uploaded to an online community. The author, A, shared, "My mother-in-law recently had surgery for a herniated disc and stayed at our house for a week." However, since A and her spouse run a small business, they were unable to personally take care of the mother-in-law. So, A asked her daughter, who is currently a second-year high school student, to take care of her grandmother for just one week.
A said to his daughter, who was saving money to buy an iPad, that he would give her a lot of allowance if she took care of her grandmother for just one week, and the daughter readily agreed. Seeing his daughter treat her grandmother kindly for a week, A also felt proud. After a week passed and the mother-in-law went down to the provinces, A handed his daughter the promised allowance of 100,000 won. However, the daughter snapped angrily, saying, "I didn't go through all that trouble just to receive a mere 100,000 won." [Photo by Asia Economy]
She told her daughter, who was saving money to buy an iPad, that she would give her a lot of allowance if she took care of her grandmother for just one week, and the daughter readily agreed. Seeing her daughter warmly care for her grandmother during that week made A feel proud. After the week passed and the mother-in-law returned to her hometown, A gave her daughter the promised allowance of 100,000 won. However, the daughter suddenly got angry, saying, "I didn't go through all that hardship just to receive a mere 100,000 won."
A explained the situation, saying her daughter was furious, shouting, "I had to prepare meals all day for a week, bathe her, change her diapers, and even clean up after her in the bathroom several times. How can you give me only this much?" In response to her daughter's reaction, A said, "Considering she is a high school student, I think 100,000 won for a week of caregiving is a lot." She added, "I usually give my daughter 200,000 won as a monthly allowance, and on top of that, I gave her an additional 100,000 won, so in total, she received 300,000 won this month. Isn't that a significant amount for a second-year high school student?" she asked netizens.
She also said, "It's not really about the 100,000 won, but seeing her behave so politely and well, and then thinking she might have been focused only on the money, gives me chills and makes me feel distressed." She revealed, "In fact, this is something that can be done without money and is a duty that should be fulfilled." Then, A asked, "Is 100,000 won really such a small and insignificant amount for a high school student?" and sought advice on how to respond to her daughter.
In response to A's story, many overwhelmingly agreed that 100,000 won was insufficient for a week of caregiving. Comments included, "Hiring a caregiver for a week would have cost at least 1,000,000 won," "Since the daughter mentioned the iPad, she might have had higher expectations," "Even by hourly wage standards, an additional 100,000 won per day is needed," and "How can someone running a small business be so unaware of the real world?"
Average Daily Caregiving Cost: 125,000 Won
Although welfare systems related to medical expenses, such as medical expense subsidies and health insurance, have developed, caregiving costs are mostly borne 100% by the patient and their family, deepening their worries. According to data released by Statistics Korea, the daily cost for a single caregiver ranges from 100,000 to 150,000 won. Before COVID-19, there was a 'part-time' option to hire caregivers based on needed hours, but after the pandemic, PCR tests are required for hospital entry.
Hospitals also discourage frequent entries and caregiver shifts, mainly operating on a 'full-day' basis. Especially with the decrease in foreign caregivers, who made up most caregivers before COVID-19, finding caregivers has become more difficult. It is even harder to find caregivers for bedridden patients who cannot move, patients with heavy body weight, or male patients. Even if caregivers are found with difficulty, patients and their families inevitably struggle with caregiving costs.
Using the midpoint of 125,000 won as a daily rate, employing a caregiver for a month would require 3,750,000 won. This amount is equivalent to a salaried worker earning an annual salary of 54 million won having to pay the entire net income after deductions for the four major insurances and income tax without spending a single penny on anything else.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
