Solo Parenting Continues... 9 out of 10 Workers Who Reduced Working Hours Are Women (Comprehensive)

Among workers who reduced their working hours for childcare, 9 out of 10 were women, according to a survey. The number of men taking parental leave also accounted for less than 30% of the total, highlighting that the burden of raising children still falls predominantly on women. The wage gap between men and women has been gradually narrowing.

Childcare Still Concentrated on Women

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 benefits during childcare last year was 17,465, accounting for 89.7% of the total. This represents a 16.0% (2,408 people) increase compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the number of male recipients was 2,001, which increased by 22.6% (369 people) from the previous year but only accounted for 10.3% of the total.

The utilization of the reduced working hours system during childcare was lower among men working in small and medium-sized enterprises. Looking at recipients of reduced working hours benefits 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 of the same size.

The number of parental leave recipients was 131,084, with women accounting for 71.0% (93,200 people). This is a 14.3% (11,684 people) increase compared to the previous year. Although the number of men increased by 30.5% to 37,884, their overall share was 28.9%.

However, the "M-curve" of employment rates, which sharply declines for women entering childbirth and childcare periods, has eased. The employment rate of women aged 30-34, when career interruptions typically begin, rose from 54.9% in 2012 to 68.5% last year. During the same period, the employment rate for women aged 35-39 also increased from 54.3% to 60.5%.

Last year, the number of women experiencing career interruptions decreased by 3.5% (51,000 people) from the previous year to 1,397,000. The most common reason for career interruption was childcare, with 597,000 women citing it, followed by marriage (368,000), pregnancy and childbirth (318,000), and family care (64,000).

Narrowing Wage Gap Between Men and Women

Last year, the hourly wage for all female workers, including regular and non-regular employees, was 18,113 KRW, which is 70.0% of the male wage of 25,886 KRW. The hourly wage level of all female workers compared to male wages steadily increased from 64.8% in 2012, 65.9% in 2017, to 69.8% in 2021.

The monthly wage of all female workers rose by 868,000 KRW from 1,815,000 KRW in 2012 to 2,683,000 KRW last year. During the same period, the monthly wage of all male workers increased by 1,153,000 KRW from 2,974,000 KRW to 4,127,000 KRW.

The wage gap between male and female regular and non-regular workers was recorded at 71.3% and 73.3%, respectively, as of 2020. The employment rate gap between genders also narrowed from 22.5 percentage points in 2012 to 18.6 percentage points last year. This was due to the male employment rate remaining around 70%, while the female employment rate steadily increased. The female employment rate rose from 48.6% in 2012 to 52.9% last year, whereas the male employment rate slightly increased from 71.1% to 71.5%.

The industry with the highest number of female employees was "Health and Social Welfare Services," accounting for 18.3% (2,229,000 people) of the total. This was followed by wholesale and retail trade at 12.7% (1,545,000 people), and accommodation and food services at 11.0% (1,333,000 people). The industry with the highest proportion of female representatives was "Accommodation and Food Services" (58.5%), followed by education services (57.5%), and associations, repair, and other personal services (49.3%).

The Women's Economic Activity White Paper is an annual publication based on the "Act on the Promotion of Women's Economic Activities and Prevention of Career Interruptions," which was fully revised in 2021. This year's edition was distributed for the first time and was authored and supervised by the Korean Women's Development Institute and the Korea Labor Institute.

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