'You Have to Raise Kids'... 90% of Workers Who Reduced Working Hours Are Women

About 90% of workers who reduced their working hours for childcare were found to be women. It is pointed out that the burden of raising children still falls predominantly on women, as male childcare leave takers account for less than 30% of the total.

According to the "2023 Women's Economic Activity White Paper" released on the 27th by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the number of women receiving reduced working hours allowance during childcare last year was 17,465, accounting for 89.7% of the total. This represents an increase of 2,408 (16.0%) compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the number of men was 2,001, which increased by 369 (22.6%) from the previous year but still remained a modest 10.3%.

This white paper is published annually in accordance with the fully revised "Act on the Promotion of Women's Economic Activities and Prevention of Career Interruption" in 2021. It was distributed for the first time this year, with the Korea Women's Development Institute and the Korea Labor Institute responsible for writing and supervising the report.

The childcare working hours reduction system was less utilized by men working in small and medium-sized enterprises. Looking at recipients of reduced working hours allowance by workplace size, 68.7% of women workers were employed at businesses with fewer than 300 employees. In contrast, only 53.1% of male workers were employed at businesses with fewer than 300 employees.

Regarding childcare leave takers, the total number of recipients was 131,084, with women accounting for 71.0% (93,200). Compared to the previous year, this increased by 11,684 (14.3%). The number of men increased by 30.5% to 37,884, but their overall share was only 28.9%.

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