Fate or Restart: Young Adult Family Caregiving in Taiwan

Background and Purpose：This qualitative study examines the experiences of young adult family caregivers in Taiwan during their emerging adulthood transition. While family caregiving research has traditionally focused on middle-aged and older women, young caregivers remain largely invisible in Taiwanese social policy despite evidence from countries like the UK and Japan showing their prevalence and vulnerability. The research integrates life course perspective and emerging adulthood theory to understand how caregiving responsibilities acquired during critical developmental transitions impact young adults' educational and career trajectories. The study aims to explore how these young caregivers negotiate their dual roles, mobilize support resources within institutional gaps, and develop resilience while facing developmental costs.

Methods: The study employed qualitative thematic analysis through in-depth interviews with ten purposively selected participants aged 18-24 who had provided care to family members for at least six months during their adolescence or emerging adulthood. Semi-structured interviews lasting 1.5-2 hours explored participants' developmental trajectories, caregiving experiences, role adjustments, and support resources. The analysis was guided by life course perspective and emerging adulthood theoretical frameworks to interpret participants' experiences within broader developmental and social contexts. Ethical approval for this research was obtained from the Ethics Committee.

Results: Five major themes emerged from the analysis. First, "Genesis of caregiving roles: Assuming responsibilities during 'Vulnerable Windows' " revealed that participants assumed caregiving duties during vulnerable life transitions (high school graduation, college entrance) due to family crises. Second, "Role overlap and stress: Compressed youth time" highlighted how caregiving compressed participants' personal time and created tensions between student/employee and caregiver identities. Third, "Developmental trajectory deviation: Interrupted and reshaped life paths" demonstrated how caregiving responsibilities forced education interruptions, career limitations, and geographical immobility. Fourth, "Formal and informal support: Self-adaptation under resource gaps" indicated a significant gap in institutional support systems, with participants relying primarily on family and friends rather than schools or social services. Finally, "resilience and institutional responsibility: A caregiving journey where growth and cost coexist" showcased participants' remarkable adaptability despite structural challenges, while emphasizing that individual resilience should not substitute for systemic support.

Conclusions and Implications: This study reveals how young adult caregivers experience "premature responsibilization" during what should be a period of identity exploration, substantially altering their developmental trajectories. While participants demonstrated impressive resilience, their experiences highlight significant gaps in Taiwan's social welfare and education systems regarding young caregiver identification and support. The findings call for policy reforms in three key areas: (1) educational support through flexible academic arrangements and counseling resources; (2) respite care and financial assistance to alleviate economic burdens; and (3) cross-system collaboration between health, education, and social welfare sectors. The study challenges the romanticization of family caregiving as simply a "sweet burden" and advocates for recognizing young caregivers as a vulnerable population requiring dedicated intervention. Future research should develop assessment tools for early identification and examine the long-term impacts of early caregiving on life trajectories across diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.