{"id":2203240,"date":"2023-12-28T08:00:28","date_gmt":"2023-12-27T23:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2203240"},"modified":"2023-12-27T17:28:54","modified_gmt":"2023-12-27T08:28:54","slug":"gender-wage-gap-in-south-korea-sees-modest-improvement-but-challenges-persist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/12\/gender-wage-gap-in-south-korea-sees-modest-improvement-but-challenges-persist\/","title":{"rendered":"Gender wage gap in South Korea sees modest improvement, but challenges persist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Korea\u2019s gender wage gap is showing signs of narrowing, as revealed in the \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.moel.go.kr\/news\/enews\/report\/enewsView.do?news_seq=16005\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2023 Women\u2019s Economic Activities White Paper<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d published by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The report indicates that in the last year, women\u2019s hourly wages have reached 70% of men\u2019s, up from 64.8% in 2012. Additionally, the gender employment rate gap has decreased from 22.5 percentage points in 2012 to 18.6 percentage points.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report also highlights the persistent challenges in achieving full gender equality in the labor market. Despite the progress, the ratio of women\u2019s monthly wages to men\u2019s still shows a significant gap. The employment rate for women, especially in the age group 35 to 39, remains a concern, highlighting the need for further improvements in gender parity in the workplace.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why It Matters<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The white paper\u2019s findings hold significant weight in a country with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oecd.org\/social\/joining-forces-for-gender-equality-67d48024-en.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the largest gender pay gap<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development member states. While the report indicates some progress in narrowing this gap, its publication under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration casts a shadow over its significance. Yoon capitalized on anti-feminist sentiments among young South Korean men for electoral gains and once vowed to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/10\/yoon-moves-to-scrap-gender-ministry-in-appeal-to-anti-feminist-supporters\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">abolish<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the gender ministry, though he has not yet fulfilled this promise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While showcasing incremental improvements, the report also highlights the systemic and cultural challenges entrenched in South Korea\u2019s labor market, especially for women in their mid-to-late thirties. This demographic continues to face significant hurdles, emphasizing a lack of targeted, effective policies under the current administration to support women\u2019s career continuity, particularly post-childbirth. South Korea\u2019s fertility rate reached a record quarterly low of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.koreaherald.com\/view.php?ud=20231226000421\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">0.7<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the third quarter of 2023 \u2014 significantly below the replacement level of 2.1, which is necessary to maintain population stability.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the incremental progress women have made, the likelihood of a significant policy shift under Yoon seems minimal. The recent announcement by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.yna.co.kr\/view\/AEN20231227001500315?section=search\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lee Jun-seok<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, former leader of the ruling People Power Party, to establish a new conservative party adds a new dimension to this political landscape. Lee, known for his anti-feminist stance and pivotal role in securing young male votes for Yoon, signifies a continuing trend in South Korean politics where gender issues are leveraged for electoral gains. Given the proximity of parliamentary elections, now only 105 days away, Yoon will likely further entrench his positions to maintain unity among conservative supporters, sidelining efforts to address gender disparities.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-tags\"><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/business-economy\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Business &amp; Economy<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/culture-society\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Culture &amp; Society<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/domestic-politics\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Domestic Politics<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Korea\u2019s gender wage gap is showing signs of narrowing, as revealed in the \u201c2023 Women\u2019s Economic Activities White Paper\u201d published by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The report indicates that in the last year, women\u2019s hourly wages have reached 70% of men\u2019s, up from 64.8% [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2203241,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[24,25,27],"class_list":["post-2203240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-briefings","tag-business-economy","tag-culture-society","tag-domestic-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Gender wage gap in South Korea sees modest improvement, but challenges persist - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/12\/gender-wage-gap-in-south-korea-sees-modest-improvement-but-challenges-persist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gender wage gap in South Korea sees modest improvement, but challenges persist - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Korea\u2019s gender wage gap is showing signs of narrowing, as revealed in the \u201c2023 Women\u2019s Economic Activities White Paper\u201d published by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Employment and Labor. 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