Last Year, Nearly 30,000 'Latte Papas'... One in Four Parental Leave Takers Is a Dad

Total Parental Leave Users Reach 112,000... 6.5% Increase Compared to Previous Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Last year, the number of male parental leave takers, commonly called 'Latte Papa,' increased by 23% to nearly 30,000. One in four parental leave users was a 'dad on leave.'

Source: Ministry of Employment and Labor

On the 10th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that the number of parental leave users last year was 112,040, a 6.5% increase from 2019.

In particular, the number of male parental leave users was 27,423, up 23% from the previous year.

Following 12,042 in 2017, 17,665 in 2018, and 22,297 in 2019, last year also showed a steep upward trend.

Source: Ministry of Employment and Labor

The proportion of men among all parental leave users has steadily increased: 13.4% in 2017, 17.8% in 2018, 21.2% in 2019, and 24.5% last year.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor explained, "The culture of parents jointly caring for children is spreading, and efforts to improve the system, such as the implementation of the Dad Parental Leave Bonus System, seem to have contributed."

The Dad Parental Leave Bonus System grants 100% of the ordinary wage as parental leave pay for the first three months to the second parent who takes parental leave sequentially for the same child. The number of users increased from 9,796 in 2019 to 13,507 last year.

Source=Ministry of Employment and Labor

The number of parental leave users in priority support companies (small and medium-sized enterprises) was 59,838, an 11% increase from the previous year. This was higher than the 1.8% growth rate in large companies. Their share of the total was 53.4%.

It was also found that the proportion of male leave takers increased in small and medium-sized enterprises. The number of men rose from 9,695 in 2019 to 12,662 last year, a 30.6% increase.

By company size, the highest increase rate in parental leave users was in companies with '30 to fewer than 100 employees,' at 13.1%. The number rose from 12,701 in 2019 to 14,370 last year. Companies with '10 to fewer than 30 employees' followed with an 8.5% increase.

The increase rate for parental leave users in 'companies with 300 or more employees' was 3.5%, rising from 47,879 in 2019 to 49,533 last year.

The average parental leave usage period last year was 9.4 months. It was found that 56.9% of all parental leave users took leave within six months of their child's birth.

Source: Ministry of Employment and Labor

The number of users of reduced working hours for childcare last year was 14,698, a 159.7% increase from the previous year. Male users increased by 120.9%, and female users by 165.5% compared to the previous year.

The highest usage was for children aged 2, accounting for 18.2%, followed by ages 7 (16.4%) and 8 (15.8%).

The Ministry of Employment and Labor explained, "Parental leave is mainly used within six months after the child's birth, and both parental leave and reduced working hours for childcare are frequently used during the high-demand period of elementary school entrance."

Hwang Bo-guk, Director General of the Integrated Employment Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, said, "Last year, the number of parental leave users increased significantly due to system improvements such as allowing couples to take parental leave simultaneously. We will continue to actively improve and promote the parental leave system to revitalize it."

Source: Ministry of Employment and Labor

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