Last year, the number of people using parental leave was recorded at a historic high of 132,535. Furthermore, the proportion of men among all parental leave users exceeded 30% for the first time.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor noted that the number of beneficiaries who received support from the work-family balance program last year was 256,771, an increase of 7.2% (17,242 people) from the previous year.
The government’s work-family support programs include ▲ parental leave ▲ reduction of working hours during parental leave ▲ maternity leave ▲ spousal maternity leave.
The most widely used program was parental leave. A total of 132,535 people took parental leave, a 5.2% increase from the previous year. This is the largest number ever recorded. The number of parental leave users decreased from 131,083 in 2022 to 126,008 in 2023, but has turned to an increasing trend after one year.
Among all parental leave users, men accounted for 31.6% (41,829 people). This marks the first time the percentage has exceeded 30%. The number of male parental leave users, which was only in the single digits in 2015, has increased nearly ninefold in the past decade.
Last year, there were 26,627 users of reduced working hours during parental leave, an increase of 14.8% from the previous year (23,188 people). A Ministry of Employment and Labor official said, “While the number of users is still small compared to parental leave, the number has continued to rise since the system was improved to allow for a year of reduced working hours separate from parental leave.”
Additionally, the number of maternity leave users increased by 6.5% (4,832 people) to 79,368 compared to the previous year. The number of spousal maternity leave users also increased to 18,241, an increase of 15.5% (2,444 people) from the previous year.
The government plans to expand parental support programs this year to support work-family balance. Starting January 1, parental leave benefits will be significantly increased to a maximum of 2.5 million won per month, and the method of paying 25% of the benefit afterward will be abolished, allowing for full payment during the parental leave period. Individuals who take parental leave for a year can receive up to 23.1 million won.
Minister Kim Moon-soo said, “I will focus on ensuring that the work-family balance system is well established in the field.”