Daughters rewarding mothers’ piteous lives: Eldest daughters caring for aging mothers

Abstract

This study is an analysis of the personal and social meanings of married women’s experiences caring for their aging mothers as the eldest daughter in Korean society. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participants for this study. The interviews were conducted in Korean, and the collected data were analyzed using descriptive phenomenological analysis in four categories: “being the eldest daughter and daughter-in-law in a patriarchal society with nothing but duties”; “the pain of taking care of my mother that invades my daily life”; “The compassion of an eldest daughter who can’t turn a blind eye to her mother’s miserable life.”; and “Support from society to overcome the psychological difficulties of caregivers and help older adults in their daily lives”. The study participants felt emotional pain in caring for their mothers, and it was difficult for them to simultaneously play the roles of daughter-in-law, wife, and mother. However, they felt compassion for their mothers’ lives in a patriarchal society and believed they could compensate for their mothers’ hardships by caring for them. The participants emphasized the need for specialized in-home services that address the specific health needs of the older adult, along with counseling services for their caregivers. In Korean society, when daughters care for their mothers, it strengthens the shared history and emotions between mothers and daughters, affirming female solidarity. Based on the above findings, policy and practical measures are recommended to ensure that daughters who provide care for their mothers can deliver stable care.

Keywords:

• Meaning in older adult care
• patriarchal society
• eldest daughter
• caring for an aging mother
• married women

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.