Male Public Officials Taking Parental Leave Doubled in 5 Years... 3,384 Last Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] It has been confirmed that the number of male public officials taking parental leave has doubled over the past five years.

According to the data on the "Status of Parental Leave Usage by National Public Officials" submitted by the Ministry of Personnel Management to Representative Lee Hyung-seok (The Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Buk-gu Eul), the number of male public officials in central government agencies who applied for parental leave last year was 3,384, doubling over the past five years.

Looking at the ratio of male public officials taking parental leave by ministry (male parental leave takers · total parental leave takers), it was 15.9% (1,269 · 7,993) in 2015, 18.9% (1,526 · 8,093) in 2016, 22.5% (1,885 · 8,372) in 2017, 29.0% (2,652 · 9,154) in 2018, and 33.9% (3,384 · 9,971) in 2019, showing a continuous increasing trend.

The Ministry of Personnel Management expects this increasing trend to continue in the future.

Meanwhile, in some ministries (Korea Coast Guard, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, National Fire Agency), the ratio of male parental leave takers exceeded that of female parental leave takers. In particular, in the case of the Korea Coast Guard, males accounted for 58.7% of parental leave takers, surpassing the female ratio.

Representative Lee said, "The increase in male public officials taking parental leave reflects a change in our society's perception of childcare and shows how challenging raising children is," adding, "I hope that the activation of the male parental leave system will expand not only among public officials but also in general companies and all workplaces in society, creating an environment where work and family coexist."

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