Married Couples with School-Age Children Give Up Dual Incomes After COVID-19 "Due to Caregiving Burden"

by Kim Eunha

Published 21 May.2023 12:32(KST)

BOSAYEON, Household Trend Survey on Employment Changes Due to COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many dual-income households with school-aged children gave up working due to the burden of childcare. The income earned from employment also significantly decreased in households with school-aged children.

On the 15th, expectant parents attending the '42nd BEFE Baby Fair' held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, are looking at childcare products. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

According to a report titled "Experiences and Disparities in Social Risks and Responses Among the Working-Age Population Due to the COVID-19 Crisis" (Kim Hyun-kyung et al.) by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on the 21st, an analysis of raw data from Statistics Korea's Household Income and Expenditure Survey showed that the proportion of dual-income couples with children aged 8 to 17 (school-aged children) was 65.9% in the first half of 2019, but dropped by 5.4 percentage points to 60.5% in the first half of 2020 when the COVID-19 outbreak occurred.

It further declined to 59.3% in the first half of 2021 and did not rebound in the first half of 2022, which marked the beginning of the recovery period, remaining at 59.7%. Comparing the first half of 2019 and the first half of 2022, there was a 6.2 percentage point difference.

This contrasts with couples without children, where the proportion of dual-income households showed minimal changes: 51.6% in the first half of 2019, 51.7% in 2020, 52.8% in 2021, and 51.7% in 2022.

Among couples with children under 8 years old (preschool children), the dual-income rate was 46.1% in the first half of 2019, dropped to 41.8% in 2020, but recovered to 45.3% in the first half of 2022.

The report analyzed that "considering the minimal change in the dual-income rate among couples without children, the significant change in female employment rates in households with children is implied."

As more parents gave up dual-income work, the employment income (wage and business income) per household with school-aged children also decreased.

The average employment income (monthly) of couples with children aged 8 to 17 was 3.14 million KRW in the first half of 2019 but dropped by 240,000 KRW to 2.9 million KRW in the first half of 2021. This was analyzed as a result of increased childcare burdens during the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerated labor market withdrawal among middle-aged and older women.

The report explained, "During the COVID-19 crisis, an emergency childcare system operated for preschool-aged children," adding, "For school-aged children, the need for parental involvement in learning and care likely increased due to remote classes."

According to data from the Ministry of Education, the number of school days for elementary students in Seoul was only 42.4 days in early 2020, at the start of the pandemic.

The report also analyzed that "older women tend to have relatively lower-quality jobs," and "the COVID-19 crisis likely accelerated their withdrawal from the labor market."

Additionally, the report revealed that, based on an analysis using the Korea Job Information System (Korea Employment Information Service), 23.7% of jobs in Korea are capable of remote work ('fully remote possible' 10.7%, 'partially remote possible' 12.9%).