Assemblyman Yoon Jae-gap Proposes Bill to Extend Parental Leave Period to Up to 3 Years

General Workers Also Eligible for Up to 3 Years of Parental Leave Like Public Officials

Yoon Jae-gap, Member of the National Assembly (Democratic Party of Korea, Jeonnam Haenam·Jindo·Wando)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] Yoon Jae-gap, a member of the National Assembly (Democratic Party of Korea, Jeonnam Haenam·Jindo·Wando), announced on the 19th that he has taken the lead in proposing the "Partial Amendment to the Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work-Family Reconciliation," which expands the parental leave period for workers from the current maximum of 1 year to up to 3 years and extends the eligible age of children for parental leave to "under 10 years old or under 4th grade in elementary school."

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) "2020 World Population Status Report," South Korea's fertility rate ranks 198th out of 198 countries surveyed, placing it at the bottom.

If this low birthrate phenomenon continues, it will lead to social problems such as a decrease in the working population, economic contraction, and increased social security costs. In response, the government spends over 20 trillion won annually on low birthrate countermeasures, but the fertility rate continues to decline.

The fertility rates compiled by Statistics Korea were 1.24 in 2015, 1.17 in 2016, 1.05 in 2017, and dropped below 1 to 0.98 in 2018.

Meanwhile, as of 2018, the proportion of dual-income households reached 46.3%, but raising elementary school children remains difficult for dual-income couples.

This is because the current law restricts parental leave to a maximum period of 1 year and limits eligible children to those "under 8 years old or under 2nd grade in elementary school."

As a result, cases of workers deciding to resign due to the burden of balancing work and family are increasing, which is directly linked to the problem of career discontinuity.

Accordingly, Assemblyman Yoon Jae-gap has taken the lead in proposing the "Partial Amendment to the Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work-Family Reconciliation," which increases the parental leave period for workers under the Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work-Family Reconciliation from a maximum of 1 year to up to 3 years and raises the eligible age of children.

Assemblyman Yoon pointed out, "While parental leave for public officials is guaranteed up to 3 years, parental leave for general workers is limited to a maximum of 1 year," and added, "I expect that the amendment will improve the childcare environment and prevent career discontinuity caused by childcare."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.