The Study On The Burden Of Care For The Elderly Of Rural Female Family Caregivers

Recently,with the aging of Chinese society,the issue of caring for the elderly has gradually aroused high academic concern.The family structure in modern society evolves in a tendency of nucleation,which is due to the aggregation of care burden,especially in rural areas.Meanwhile,high gender differences exist because of the gender division of labor,which means the female caregivers are subjected to higher care burden than male members.This study selected D village as an ideal sample,which is facing serious aging problem.Women there are the primary caregivers for Elderly People.Proceeding from the perspective of gender theory,this study used the combination of literature,case study and semi-structured interview to explore the cause of caregiver burden for female family caregivers in rural area and put forward some useful suggestions to improve their quality of lives.The results suggest that the care burden of female caregivers mainly includes four aspects: physical burden,psychological burden,economic burden and social burden.During the care process,female caregivers are not only facing threats to physical health,but also easily to be worried and tension.Furthermore,almost all female caregivers are facing the challenge of unemployment and economic pinch,as well as family conflicts or social hindrances.In order to analyze the potential cause of care burden,this study used on-the-spot investigation and related interviews in D village from the perspective of society,community,family and individual.Firstly,the misconception that men are superior to women is still affecting many people’s way of thinking and the society do not provide enough support or build complete old-age service system;Secondly,the community puts high pressure on women by public opinion and awards or commendations are necessary for caregivers;Thirdly,family care resources are insufficient,traditional culture influences family division of labor,family role division is formed through social construction,gender culture fixes family division of labor mode,women lack discourse power,and often sacrifice women’s vital interests in family decision-making;Last but not least,as for female caregivers,they care for the elderly because of their emotions and morality,but they are often trapped in poorprofessional skills.Reducing the care burden not only needs gender mainstreaming,but also requires the common efforts of society,community and family,which are necessary to achieve gender justice,enhance the discourse power of female caregivers,reduce the burden on women and improve the quality of life of female caregivers and the elderly.