Family caregiver wage is only one part of household care cost
In South Korea, family care under Long-Term Care Insurance is not an informal cash allowance paid directly to a relative.
A qualified care worker enters an employment relationship with a registered visit-care provider and delivers covered care to a family member who has an eligible long-term care grade.
The provider benefit fee billed through NHIS, the beneficiary copay, and the wage paid under the employment contract are three separate amounts.
This calculator applies the 2026 Korean 60-minute or confirmed 90-minute family-care rules, the home-benefit monthly cap, and the selected copay category.
It then estimates recognized and uncovered care hours, adds private care and other household costs, and subtracts the estimated net wage for up to three provider offers.
The result is a planning comparison, not an NHIS eligibility decision, provider claim, payroll calculation, legal opinion, or guarantee of payment.
Three amounts that must stay separate
Official benefit cost
The covered fee used by the provider for an NHIS claim. It includes insurer and beneficiary shares, and it is not the caregiver wage.
Employment-contract wage
Hourly wage, per-visit allowance, and monthly allowance less confirmed payroll deductions. The written contract and payslip control.
Household net care cost
Entered household care costs less estimated net caregiver wage. A negative result is only an input-based residual, not guaranteed profit.
There is no universal formula that turns the provider fee into wage
Providers may define paid hours, allowances, documentation time, training time, and deductions differently within the applicable employment rules.
The calculator does not automatically decide minimum wage, weekly holiday pay, severance, tax, social insurance, or worker classification.
Enter only the wage and deduction figures confirmed in the actual employment contract or an illustrative provider quote clearly identified as provisional.
2026 recognition rules for 60 and 90 minutes
Under the 2026 Ministry of Health and Welfare notice, ordinary family care provided for at least 60 minutes is priced in the 60-minute visit-care band and is limited to one service per day and 20 days per month.
A confirmed statutory exception provided for at least 90 minutes uses the 90-minute band and may exceed 20 days in the month.
Family-care visits do not receive time-of-day or holiday add-ons, so the calculator uses the base daily fee only.
Comparison of South Korean family-care recognition categories for 2026| Recognition category | Time per day | 2026 daily benefit cost | Monthly boundary |
|---|
| Standard family care | 60 minutes | KRW 25,320 | Up to 20 days |
| Confirmed exception | 90 minutes | KRW 34,120 | May exceed 20 days when eligible |
Older spouse exception
One exception covers a family care worker aged 65 or older who provides the visit-care service to a spouse.
Confirm age, marital relationship, actual service time, and recognition with the provider and NHIS.
Dementia and behavior exception
The other route requires specified behavior-change items in the recognition assessment plus the applicable dementia diagnosis or recent treatment evidence.
The calculator cannot evaluate clinical records or decide whether those combined conditions are met.
Entering 31 days in standard mode is automatically reduced to 20 recognized days.
Exception mode accepts up to 31 calendar days for scenario planning, but the input does not guarantee that NHIS will recognize every planned day.
Family definition and readiness checks
The current notice includes the beneficiary’s spouse, direct blood relatives and siblings, spouses of direct blood relatives, the spouse’s direct blood relatives, and the spouse’s siblings.
Cohabitation is not entered because the current family-definition provision does not make living together a separate condition.
The provider must still verify the actual relationship and report it through the NHIS process, so a relationship label in this calculator never establishes eligibility.
- Confirm the care worker certificate and current ability to work through the provider.
- Confirm that the provider verified the family relationship and explained the NHIS reporting step.
- Check the benefit plan for the recognition category, service days, and benefits that cannot be billed on the same day.
- Obtain a written employment contract covering wage, allowances, pay date, records or training time, and deductions.
- Check whether monthly hours at another job reach the 160-hour boundary.
The 160-hour rule for other employment
Family-care benefit cost is restricted when the family care worker has at least 160 working hours in another job during the month.
Family-care service hours themselves are excluded from that 160-hour calculation, but the other employer’s records matter.
At 160 hours or above, this calculator keeps the planning numbers visible while marking the scenario as needing confirmation.
Monthly caps and beneficiary copay
Grade 1KRW 2,512,900
Grade 2KRW 2,331,200
Grade 3KRW 1,528,200
Grade 4KRW 1,409,700
Grade 5KRW 1,208,900
The monthly cap is consumed by the gross covered benefit cost, including both NHIS and beneficiary shares, rather than by copay alone.
The calculator treats gross cost for other home benefits as using the cap first and allocates family-care benefit cost to the remaining amount.
It applies the selected 15%, 9%, 6%, or 0% rate within the remaining cap and treats family-care cost above the cap as full household cost.
Korean home-benefit copay categories used in this calculator| NHIS-confirmed category | Within-cap copay | What to check |
|---|
| Standard | 15% | No reduction or exemption is shown |
| 40% reduction | 9% | NHIS confirms this reduction band |
| 60% reduction | 6% | NHIS confirms this reduction band |
| Exempt | 0% | The statutory exemption is confirmed |
Enter other home-benefit cost as the gross amount charged against the cap, including insurer and beneficiary shares.
Enter actual household cost for other benefits separately, including confirmed copay and relevant non-covered charges.
Review NHIS utilization details and provider statements to avoid entering the same copay twice.
How the care gap and household cost are built
1. Recognized hours
Applied days multiplied by 60 or 90 minutes per recognized day.
2. Unrecognized gap
Total monthly care need less recognized hours, with a floor of zero.
3. Cash care cost
Family-care copay and excess, other-benefit household cost, private care, transport, and supplies.
4. Economic care cost
Cash care cost plus the entered value of unpaid family care that remains after private care.
Requested private-care hours are limited to the calculated uncovered gap.
The remainder becomes unpaid family-care time, which is multiplied by the user-defined hourly opportunity value.
Opportunity cost is kept out of the cash result because it is not a cash payment, but it remains visible in the economic result for household decision-making.
Worked example for grade 3 and 20 standard days
Assume a grade 3 beneficiary receives 20 standard family-care days and uses KRW 300,000 of gross other home benefits in the same month.
Family-care benefit cost is KRW 25,320 multiplied by 20, or KRW 506,400, and it stays within the grade 3 base monthly cap.
At the standard 15% category, the family-care copay is KRW 75,960 and the estimated NHIS share is KRW 430,440.
Worked monthly household-care example for grade 3 family care| Example item | Input or result | Household treatment |
|---|
| Recognized care | 20 hours | 20 days × 60 minutes |
| Family-care copay | KRW 75,960 | Cash care cost |
| Other-benefit household cost | KRW 50,000 | Cash care cost |
| Private care | 30 hours × KRW 20,000 | KRW 600,000 |
| Transport and supplies | KRW 20,000 + KRW 10,000 | KRW 30,000 |
| Unpaid family care | 50 hours × KRW 10,000 | KRW 500,000 opportunity cost |
Cash care cost before wage is KRW 755,960 and economic care cost before wage is KRW 1,255,960 in this example.
A provider offer of KRW 15,000 per recognized hour, KRW 10,000 per service day, a KRW 50,000 monthly allowance, and KRW 50,000 expected deductions produces KRW 550,000 gross and KRW 500,000 estimated net wage.
The resulting cash net care cost is KRW 255,960 and the economic net care cost is KRW 755,960.
Compare provider offers on the same basis
- Ask whether hourly wage applies only to recognized hours or to a different paid-time definition in the contract.
- Identify whether per-service allowance represents transport, documentation, treatment improvement, or another item, and check its absence rules.
- Confirm conditions for the fixed monthly allowance and how partial months are handled.
- Enter only expected payroll deductions and do not mix provider management fees or the beneficiary copay into this field.
- Keep recognition days and household-care assumptions identical when comparing up to three providers.
Understanding a negative net care cost
A negative result means the estimated net wage is larger than the costs entered for that month.
Recognition changes, missed service days, payroll deductions, tax, insurance, or omitted care expenses can change the actual outcome.
Treat the amount as a scenario residual and verify it against the provider contract, NHIS record, and later payslip.
Practical scenarios
Before starting family care
Confirm the actual 60- or 90-minute category, complete the readiness checks, and compare written provider offers before relying on any wage figure.
When changing providers
Enter the existing payslip and the new offer separately to see how allowances and deductions affect household net care cost.
When combining day care or other benefits
Separate gross cap usage from actual household cost and ask the provider about same-day service restrictions.
When discussing burden within the family
Show cash net care cost and opportunity-cost-inclusive economic care cost separately so unpaid time is visible without treating it as cash.
Frequently asked questions
Do I receive the full KRW 25,320 standard daily fee
No. That is the covered benefit cost used in the provider claim, including NHIS and beneficiary shares. Your wage comes from the employment contract with the provider.
Does every 90-minute visit allow up to 31 days
No. A confirmed older-spouse or qualifying dementia-and-behavior exception is required, and actual service records and NHIS recognition control.
Must the caregiver live with the beneficiary
The current family-definition provision does not make cohabitation a separate condition. The actual family relationship, benefit plan, provider verification, and NHIS reporting still matter.
Does a 0% copay mean zero household cost
No. Cap excess, other-benefit cost, non-covered charges, private care, transport, supplies, and unpaid time may remain.
Why is cognitive-support grade unavailable
The current notice excludes cognitive-support grade from visit-care eligibility, so this calculator does not offer that grade. Confirm alternative services with NHIS.
What needs extra review for grade 5
Confirm whether the actual plan requires cognitive-activity visit care and whether the planned family-care service matches the applicable delivery rules.
Can I submit this result as a claim
No. It is a planning result based on user inputs. NHIS service records, provider claims, the employment contract, and the payslip are authoritative.
Input tips and limits
- Match recognition days and category to the benefit plan and NHIS confirmation, not only a verbal estimate.
- Keep gross cap usage for other benefits separate from actual household payment for those benefits.
- Enter private-care hours that the household expects to purchase and let the calculator derive the remaining unpaid family-care gap.
- Test several opportunity-cost values, including zero, current hourly earnings, or income given up for care.
- Recheck current rates and recognition rules for months after 2026 because Korean long-term care notices can change.
This page does not replace Korean long-term care eligibility, employment, tax, or clinical advice.
Confirm eligibility and recognition with NHIS, service planning and claims with the registered provider, and wage or deductions with the written contract and payslip.
Official 2026 reference points
Family definition, the other-employment restriction, recognition minutes, daily benefit fees, and monthly day rules follow the Ministry of Health and Welfare notice effective January 1, 2026.
Monthly home-benefit caps and copay structure are read together with the Long-Term Care Insurance statutes and the copay-reduction notice.
Recalculate with the contract and NHIS utilization record
Replace the illustrative values with confirmed recognition, other-benefit cap use, provider wage, allowances, and deductions.
Compare cash and economic net care costs together before choosing a provider or changing the household care plan.