Will a 'Half-Baked' Nationwide Employment Insurance Be Implemented... 'Special Employment Type Parental Leave' Remains Untouched

Ministry of Employment to Announce 'National Employment Insurance Roadmap' by Year-End
Expansion of Parental Leave Benefits Difficult Due to Employment Fund Financial Burden
Total Fertility Rate Drops to 0.9 This Year... Half of Employed Women Outside System
Experts Say "Maternity Protection System Must Be Reformed to Reduce Blind Spots"

Minister Lee Jae-gap of the Ministry of Employment and Labor attended the discussion forum on "The Meaning and Future Tasks of the National Employment Insurance System" held at the National Assembly on June 23 and delivered a greeting./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The government is promoting a 'National Employment Insurance System,' but it is expected to remain incomplete due to financial constraints. This is because it is not even considering providing parental leave benefits, one of the employment insurance benefits, to workers in special employment types (teukso hyeong geunro jongsaja, or teukgo) and artists. To include more employed individuals within the employment insurance system, public funds are also being invested. Next year, a budget of up to 70 billion KRW will be spent to support employment insurance premiums for low-income teukgo workers and artists.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 4th, a roadmap for nationwide employment insurance, under which all working citizens will be enrolled and receive benefits, will be disclosed within this year. The plan is to bring those in the blind spots of employment insurance, such as teukgo workers and artists, into the system. However, parental leave benefits, which along with unemployment benefits form the two main pillars of employment insurance benefits, are reportedly not a major consideration. Due to the unemployment crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, reform of the parental leave system has been deprioritized. The law that includes employment insurance coverage for teukgo workers and artists does not contain provisions for parental leave benefits.

An official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor said, "Since resources are limited, it is practically difficult to expand the scope of parental leave benefits. However, payment of prenatal and postnatal leave benefits to pregnant women has been included in the amendment to the Employment Insurance Act." The ministry expects to spend 11.3 trillion KRW on unemployment benefits, 1.3 trillion KRW on parental leave benefits, and 300 billion KRW on prenatal and postnatal leave benefits next year. As the number of men taking parental leave increases, the number of parental leave users surpassed 100,000 for the first time last year, and the amount paid for parental leave benefits exceeded 1 trillion KRW for the first time. However, as of last year, about 4,003,000 female workers were enrolled in employment insurance, which is 58.4% of the total female employed population (6,857,000), indicating that more than half are outside the employment insurance system.

Experts unanimously agree that the blind spots in maternal protection systems must be reduced to increase birth rates and support work-life balance. According to a report titled "The Impact of Maternal Protection Systems on Births" published last month by the National Assembly Budget Office, the total fertility rate is expected to fall below 0.9 this year. The annual total fertility rate was 1.052 in 2017, 0.977 in 2018, and 0.918 last year. The Budget Office emphasized the need to increase the utilization of maternal protection systems, stating, "Parental leave or maternity leave reduces the lower birth probability of employed women compared to non-employed women by 34.3%." The gradual expansion of the scope of parental leave benefit recipients is also included in the Korean New Deal comprehensive plan announced by the government in July.

Voices calling for reform of the parental leave system have also emerged from the Presidential Committee on Economic, Social and Labor Affairs. Kang Min-jung, Associate Research Fellow at the Korean Women's Development Institute, stated at the 31st plenary meeting of the Social Safety Net Improvement Committee under the Economic, Social and Labor Council, "It is necessary to expand the scope of parental leave benefits to all working parents and to reform the system to address women's career interruptions and care gaps." Professor Park Ji-soon of Korea University Law School said, "To universally utilize childbirth and parental leave systems, it is reasonable to apply them not only to wage workers but to all people engaged in income-generating activities." However, he added, "It is not desirable to rely heavily on the employment insurance fund as is currently done," and mentioned that "methods such as utilizing health insurance or national pension funds, or integrating various social insurances and taxes to establish a special account are being proposed."

Meanwhile, the government will invest a budget of up to 70 billion KRW next year to increase the number of employment insurance subscribers. The 'Durunuri Project,' which supports 80% of employment insurance premiums for low-income workers, will be expanded to include teukgo workers and artists. The Durunuri Project is executed through the general account funded by taxpayers. The Ministry of Employment and Labor's budget for next year includes 9.7 billion KRW and 59.4 billion KRW allocated for employment insurance premium support for 35,000 artists and 430,000 teukgo workers, respectively.

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