The number of those with shortened working hours during the parental leave period increased by 11.3 times from 2,000 to 23,000 over the same period. - Photo: Pixabay
SEOUL: Amid growing concerns over South Korea’s low birth rate with the government grappling to tackle the demographic crisis, statistics show that the proportion of men who took parental leave in 2023 increased by five-fold from eight years ago.
According to the country’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s “Life of Men and Women through 2024 Statistics” on Sept 5, men accounted for 28 per cent of the 126,000 people accessing parental leave benefits in 2023, showing a significant improvement in the workplace culture compared to 2015, when men accounted for only 5.6 per cent of the total on parental leave.
