Yoo Seung-min: "Only Civil Servants Get 3 Years Parental Leave? It Should Be Expanded to Solve Low Birthrate"

“Government Must Actively Support Parental Leave Pay and More”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min stated on the 17th regarding the constitutional complaint filed by the civic group Moms Making Politics, which claims that the Gender Equality in Employment Act is unconstitutional, “I fully agree with their argument and believe that workers, not just public officials and teachers, should be entitled to three years of parental leave.”

On the same day, Yoo said on Facebook, “Public officials, teachers, and ordinary workers are all citizens of the Republic of Korea, so there is absolutely no reason to discriminate against them when it comes to raising children,” adding, “Considering that solving the low birthrate is a pressing issue of our time, this discrimination must be eliminated even more.”

He pointed out, “The total fertility rate in 2019 was 0.918, the lowest in the world. How could former IMF Managing Director Lagarde not have called our country a ‘collective suicide society’?” He continued, “However, in 2019, the fertility rate in Sejong City was 1.47, which is not much different from the OECD average of 1.63. The parental leave usage rate among married women in 2015 was 34.5% for ordinary company employees, but over twice as high at 75.0% for public officials and teachers. The rate of career interruption due to childbirth was only 11.2% for public officials and teachers, whereas it was 49.8% for ordinary company employees.”

He added, “How can we overcome the low birthrate problem while leaving such discrimination as it is?” and “We must face the serious problem that despite spending a staggering 185 trillion won between 2006 and 2019, the birthrate has rapidly declined.”

Former lawmaker Yoo emphasized, “The issue when expanding parental leave to three years is the burden that companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, will face,” and “The government must actively support substitute personnel and parental leave pay.”

Yoo said, “Creating a country where people want to raise children, preventing career interruptions of talented women, and increasing their participation in economic activities will be a great help to companies and our economy.”

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