Gendered Transitions in Caregiving after Marital Dissolution in Later Life: Evidence from Korea

Background and Purpose
As the population continues to age, older couples are spending more time together in later life, which has contributed to a growing incidence of late-life marital dissolutions, including divorce, widowhood, and separation. From a life course perspective, old age is not merely a biological stage, but a social one shaped by the accumulation of earlier life experiences and systemic inequalities—one of which is gender-based. While previous studies have focused on the financial or psychological consequences of marital dissolution in later life, little attention has been paid to its impact on caregiving arrangements, especially in the context of gendered dynamics. This study seeks to address this gap by examining how asymmetric spousal caregiving relationships are altered following different types of marital dissolutions, and whether they are replaced by informal care, formal care, or result in care discontinuities. It further explores how these transitions differ by gender and marital dissolution type.

Methods
This study utilizes nationally representative panel data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA), a biennial survey of community-dwelling individuals aged 45 and older(born in or before 1962). This study uses data from waves 2 (2008) to 9 (2022), focusing on respondents aged 65 and older who experienced marital dissolution(i.e., divorce, widowhood, or separation) during the observation period. KLoSA contains detailed measures of marital status and transitions, enabling identification of dissolution events and their timing. It also includes extensive caregiving information, including caregiver type, the number of days and total hours of care provided.

To examine changes in caregiving arrangements before and after marital dissolution, this study applies an event-centered panel mixed effects multilevel model. This approach aligns individual observations by time relative to the dissolution event and estimates time-varying changes in caregiving hours by different caregiver types. Analyses are stratified by gender and marital dissolution type to capture heterogeneity in caregiving transitions among older men and women.

Results
Preliminary expectations suggest that older men are more likely to encounter care deficits following divorce or separation, while older women may maintain family-based informal care but experience intensified caregiving responsibilities. Economic constraints are expected to limit access to formal care, especially among older women, leading to greater reliance on family caregivers. Following widowhood, both men and women initially receive substantial family care, but this support tends to decline over time-more markedly for men. These patterns of care transition highlight the interplay of gender, marital dissolution type, and socioeconomic conditions in caregiving.

Conclusions and Implications
This study provides insights into how caregiving arrangements change following marital dissolution in later life, with distinct gendered patterns influenced by dissolution type and economic status. By identifying these trends, the study underscores the need for a public care system that can respond flexibly to differentiated care vulnerabilities and prevent the disproportionate concentration of caregiving burdens. By identifying the consequences of late-life marital dissolution on care systems, this study contributes to broader conversations on how social work research can lead structural change and influence social policy at the intersection of aging, gender, and care.