National Gender Equality Index at 67.1 Points... Low Gender Equality in "Women's Representation" and "Care"

As of 2024, South Korea's National Gender Equality Index reached 67.1 points, an increase of 2.1 points compared to the previous year.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced this on April 20 during the 19th Gender Equality Committee meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Kim Minseok. This meeting was held in person for the first time in five years since 2021.

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The National Gender Equality Index, mandated by Article 19 of the Framework Act on Gender Equality, has been published annually since 2010 to quantitatively assess the level of gender equality in South Korea and to establish and review policy directions.

The 2024 National Gender Equality Index scored 67.1 points, up 2.1 points from 65.0 points in 2023.

By category, among the seven areas measured, the highest levels of gender equality were observed in education (95.7 points) and health (91.5 points). This indicates that there is almost no gender gap in access to educational opportunities and healthcare. The next highest categories were income (80.1 points), awareness of gender equality (76.3 points), and employment (73.5 points).

However, the gender equality levels were low in decision-making (37.4 points), which quantifies women's representation and participation, and in care (37.2 points), which measures how equally unpaid care work-such as housework, childcare, and eldercare-is shared.

Nevertheless, both areas showed improvement compared to the previous year. In the decision-making category, the representation of women among ministers increased from 20.0 points in 2023 to 38.5 points in 2024. The proportion of women in senior civil servant positions (grade 4 or higher) also rose from 50.3 points to 52.7 points, and in managerial positions from 25.1 points to 26.7 points.

In the care category, the increase in men's participation in parental leave led to higher scores for time spent on housework (from 30.7 points to 36.9 points) and for participation in parental leave (from 34.5 points to 41.1 points). However, the score for sharing eldercare responsibilities remained unchanged at 33.4 points compared to the previous year.

The Regional Gender Equality Index, which classifies the gender equality level of all 17 regions nationwide into four grades, was also announced. Seoul, Daejeon, Sejong, Chungnam, and Jeju were ranked as the top regions for gender equality, while Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeongnam were among the lowest-ranked regions.

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