{"id":2199957,"date":"2023-01-26T10:47:33","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T10:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2199957"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:10:17","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:10:17","slug":"why-south-koreas-18-month-parental-leave-is-unlikely-to-reverse-fertility-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/01\/why-south-koreas-18-month-parental-leave-is-unlikely-to-reverse-fertility-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"Why South Korea\u2019s 18-month parental leave is unlikely to reverse fertility woes"},"content":{"rendered":"
South Korea made international headlines this month when the labor ministry announced a new 18-month parental leave policy \u2014 the longest parental leave in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n Though this new scheme is aimed at increasing fertility rates, it fails to address the underlying factors driving South Korean women not to have children \u2014 primarily <\/span>conditions in the labor market, the financial situation of families, and unequal distribution of unpaid care work<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Further, this six-month increase to the previous 52-week policy will be unpaid and only available to full-time, dual-income heterosexual couples. <\/span>As a result, it is unlikely this newly announced parental leave policy will be successful in its goal of increasing the country\u2019s birth rate.<\/span><\/p>\n MISSING THE MARK<\/b><\/p>\n Experts project the <\/span>ROK\u2019s fertility rate<\/span><\/a> \u2014 the average <\/span>number of children a woman will have in her lifetime <\/span>\u2014<\/span> to slip below 0.79 in 2023. Countries need a fertility rate of 2.1 to maintain a stable population size without migration. South Korea is far below that rate and officially hit the <\/span>population death cross<\/span><\/a> (more deaths than births) in 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to the International Labor Organization, unpaid leave does little to improve gender equality or fertility rates. For a policy to be transformative, parents must receive at least<\/span> 67% of their wages<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s falling fertility rate is more acutely linked to barriers to women\u2019s economic empowerment and the burden of unpaid care work. Korean women have the <\/span>highest educational attainment level<\/span><\/a> among OECD countries, yet they are <\/span>underrepresented in management and leadership <\/span>across nearly all sectors<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n To compound the issue, South Korea has <\/span>the highest gender wage gap<\/span><\/a> among OECD countries. Women earn 64.6% of their male equivalents\u2019 income, and their labor force participation rate is 53% compared to men\u2019s 72%. <\/span>These unequal outcomes in the labor market result from a range of discriminatory factors, including unequal responsibilities for unpaid care work, all of which influence choices about having children.<\/span><\/p>\n South Korea is a<\/span> traditionally patriarchal society<\/span><\/a> where the <\/span>burden of care<\/span><\/a> usually <\/span>falls on women<\/span><\/a>. A generation ago, a typical family <\/span>consisted of a working<\/span> father and a stay-at-home mother. Today, living costs have made it financially strenuous for single-income families to thrive. Additionally, South Korean work culture has made raising children an arduous task for dual-income families, given the legislated 52-hour work week could increase to a <\/span>69-hours<\/span><\/a> under the Yoon administration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The ad hoc solution has been for women to take a break in their careers to take on childcare duties and then return to the workforce. However, women who take child-related career breaks are often unable to get rehired.<\/span><\/p>\n