South Korea sees rise in paternity leave in 2020

The number of workers in South Korea who took paternity leave in 2020 increased by 23% year-on-year, which reflects cultural and policy changes, said the labour ministry. 

There were 27,423 private sectors workers who requested paternity leave last year, more than double that of 2017’s total of 12,042, according to the ministry. 

The government attributes the rise in paternity leave applications to more couples raising their children together, and policies rolled out that encouraged fathers to take leave. 

Meanwhile, the total number of private sector employees who took childcare leave increased by 6.5% year-on-year to 112,040 in 2020. Out of the total, 24.5% were men, up from 21.2% in 2019. 

Some 56.9% of parents went on leave when their children were up to 6 months old, followed by 14.2% of parents who took leave when their children were 7-8 years old, which is around the time they start school.

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Many parents took advantage of a policy that allows them to cut working hours for up to a year while raising a child under the age of 9, said the ministry. There were 14,698 workers who did this last year, showing an increase of 160% year-on-year.