After Krafton introduced childbirth and child care support policies, the number of babies born to employees more than doubled in a year. Analysts said strengthening non-cash policies such as expanding parental leave and remote work, along with providing up to 100 million won per child, led to a real increase in births.
Krafton on the 14th released results from the first year of operating its childbirth and child care support policies, introduced in Feb. last year.
The policy provides up to 100 million won per child for employees who give birth on or after Jan. 1, 2025. It also expands parental leave to up to two years and increases non-cash support such as automatically hiring replacements.
The number of births rose sharply after the policy took effect. From January to April this year, 46 babies were born to Krafton employees. That is about double the 23 during the same period in 2025 and 21 in 2024.
Krafton is also conducting research with the Seoul National University Center for Population and Development Policy to analyze the policy's effectiveness. According to the research, cash support did less to directly prompt childbirth than to convey the company's sincerity about addressing the low-birthrate problem to employees. In the survey, 83.4% of respondents said they felt the company's family-friendly message was sincere.
By contrast, non-cash policies had a greater impact on changing perceptions of childbirth. Child care remote work, expanded parental leave, hiring replacement staff, and counseling for returning employees were found to boost work immersion and provide practical help in balancing work and family.
Factors influencing the intention to have children varied by life cycle. For single employees, improved work immersion had the greatest impact; for married employees without children, trust in organizational culture; and for married employees with children, support for work-life balance.
Meanwhile, what directly affected perceptions of childbirth was the non-cash policies. Support that adjusts working hours and backs the child-rearing environment—such as child care remote work, expanded parental leave, prenatal checkup leave during a spouse's pregnancy, hiring replacement staff, and counseling support for returning employees—raised employees' work immersion.
The main pathways to increasing the intention to have children differed by life cycle. For single employees, improved work immersion through non-cash policies had the greatest effect; for married employees without children, trust in organizational culture; and for married employees with children, support for work-life balance.
Choi Jae-geun, Deputy Minister of General Operations at Krafton, said, "Through this study, we confirmed that when corporations actively take part in solving social problems, they can bring about real change," and added, "We will continue to exemplify corporate social responsibility through childbirth and child care support policies and keep fostering a culture where work and family can be cared for together."