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The long-term care insurance system, introduced in 2000, has promoted thesocialization of long-term care and helped to reduce the burden on familieswith elderly relatives who need long-term care. But while the purpose of thelong-term care insurance system is to provide a necessary and sufficient levelof benefits for elderly persons in need of long-term care, the system alone doesnot necessarily meet all of their care needs. As a result, family care or servicesother than long-term care insurance are required to complement long-term careinsurance services. The system of care leave based on the Child Care andFamily Care Leave Act was established as a preparatory period with the aim ofbuilding a system for long-term care of family members in need of such care;income guarantees during the care leave period are provided in the form ofcare leave benefits from the employment insurance system. However, the rateof care leave actually taken remains at an extremely low level, despite progressby businesses in establishing related regulations. What is more importantis to create schemes for working formats, such as short working hour systemsor limits on overtime work, to assist workers in balancing everyday and continuousemployment with family care. |
