More South Korean Men Taking Parental Leave
More men than ever before took parental leave in South Korea during the first half of 2024.
According to government data, nearly 70,000 people took parental leave between January and June. Of these, 32% were men.
This is the first time the number for men has risen above 30%.
The figure only includes people who are employment insurance subscribers. Public officials and teachers are not covered by this insurance, so they are not included in the data.
The number of fathers taking parental leave in South Korea has been slowly increasing. In 2016, only around 9% of people who took leave were men.
The South Korean government has been working hard to improve the country's birth rate, which is the lowest in the world.
To help with this, the benefits parents can receive while on leave increased at the start of 2024.
If both parents in a couple earn at least 4.5 million won — about $3,270 — per month, they can receive up to 39 million won, or about $28,000, in the first six months if both take parental leave.
However, the data showed that fathers working for large companies were more likely to take parental leave than those working for smaller businesses.
Of the men who took leave in the first half of 2024, 44% were working for companies with at least 1,000 employees.
Fewer than one-quarter were working for companies with 100 or fewer employees.
According to The Korea Herald, some big companies have encouraged — or even obligated — their workers to take paternity leave.
For example, male staff at the food business Lotte must take at least one month of paternity leave.
