[K-Women Talk] How Can We Narrow the Gender Gap in the Labor Market?

Professor Claudia Goldin of Harvard University won this year's Nobel Prize in Economics. She is the third woman to receive the award, and the first woman to win it solo. Moreover, her research achievements focus on women's labor market participation and labor market inequality?topics that mainstream economics had largely overlooked?drawing significant attention from both domestic and international media.

Among OECD countries, South Korea has the largest gender wage gap, making Professor Goldin's Nobel Prize win highly meaningful and insightful. The gender gap in South Korea's labor market is considered deeply entrenched. According to Goldin's research, addressing this issue requires extraordinary efforts across all sectors of society, including the government and businesses.

Currently, South Korea's gender wage gap stands at 31.1%, the highest among OECD countries, and significantly exceeds the 2021 OECD average gender gap of 11.9%. The causes of this gap include structural factors identified by Goldin in her analysis of American companies, which are commonly present, as well as uniquely Korean factors that exacerbate the disparity. Looking at South Korea's female employment structure, although somewhat eased compared to the past, the "M-curve" phenomenon?where employment rates drop during childbirth and child-rearing periods?still persists. The number of women experiencing career interruptions exceeds one million. Although this number has recently decreased somewhat, this is due to statistical issues that only measure career breaks among married women, as many women are not marrying at all. The problem of women giving up their original jobs due to child-rearing and education has not been resolved. These career interruptions, combined with South Korea's seniority-based wage system, are major factors deepening the gender gap in the labor market.

Solutions to address career interruptions and reduce the gender gap must be complex and multifaceted. First, a social system that supports working together must be strengthened. Whether in dual-income or single-income households, the excessive burden of housework and childcare placed on women needs to be shared. This requires not only policy alternatives but also significant improvements in culture and awareness. Additionally, the activation of job-based pay and the improvement of long working hours are essential. Women are concentrated in relatively low-wage service industries, while large-scale manufacturing industries are predominantly staffed by men, a phenomenon of occupational segregation that must be addressed. Currently, the government operates a system that evaluates the female employment and management ratios across industries and requires companies falling below 70% of the industry average to submit plans for improving female employment. However, despite the system being in place for a considerable time, it has not significantly contributed to reducing occupational segregation. Companies need to make more proactive efforts, and incentives for outstanding companies should be strengthened.

Since the expertise and experience required by companies must be prepared from university, early career guidance that actively provides students with information on wage levels and employment by major should be conducted in a very detailed manner. Expanding female employment and closing the gender gap are urgent tasks for South Korea's labor market, which faces a declining working-age population amid low birth rates and aging. As Professor Goldin pointed out, efforts to overcome the slow pace of change in corporate culture and the perceptions of older generations, compared to the speed of economic growth, must be intensified.

Kyung-sun Kim, Special Professor at Sogang University (Former Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family)

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