Norms about childcare, working hours, and fathers’ uptake of parental leave in South Korea

Figures & data

Table 1. Frequency of key themes.

1. Main reason for taking leave
Relationship with child/time with family	25	To support wife(’s career or health)	16
Extended family unable to help	21	Gap between employment and childcare	11
To take a break from work	18	Child was ill	5
To provide home-based care for young child	18	Gender-equal parenting	4
2. Concerns about returning to work
Concern about arranging childcare	12	Concern about reverting to work-centric life	5
3. Balancing work and family life after the end of leave
Revert to work-centric life	24	Help from extended family	8
Effort to sustain work-family balance	19	Disadvantage at work	4
Change in employment status	11

Note: These themes are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and in cases where fathers mentioned more than one theme, all themes mentioned were all included in the count.

Table A1. Key trends in parental leave uptake (2010-2019).

Year	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
(a) Number of users
Total	72.769	93,859	105,072	110,615	124,593	135,459	139,071	140,531	152,241	159,153
Female	70,807	90,820	101,392	106,137	118,380	127,262	127,141	122,405	127,254	127,488
Male	1,962	3,039	3,680	4,478	6,213	8,197	11,930	18,126	24,987	31,665
Male/total	2.7%	3.2%	3.5%	4.0%	5.0%	6.1%	8.6%	12.9%	16.4%	19.9%
(b) Users per 100 children born each year
Female	9.5	11.5	12.7	14.1	15.2	16.5	17.4	18.5	20.2	21.4
Male	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.8	1.0	1.3
(c) Eligible users per 100 children born each year
Female	23.2	24.3	25.4	26.2	26.8	27.8	28.7	29.7	32.1	33.7
Male	60.1	61.3	62.6	63.8	64.7	65.4	66.5	66.7	70.5	71.7
(d) Actual users for those eligible per 100 children born each year
Female	41.0	47.4	50.2	53.7	56.8	59.3	60.5	62.0	62.9	63.6
Male	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.5	1.2	1.5	1.8
(e) Actual users over entire period per 100 children born each year
Female	19.6	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Male	1.8	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
(f) Average age of child at time of leave (years)
Female	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.6	1.1	1.2	1.1	1.2	1.4	–
Male	0.8	1.2	1.7	2.1	3.0	3.3	3.5	3.5	3.5	–
(g) Average age at time of leave (years)
Female	30.3	30.6	30.7	30.9	31.0	31.2	31.5	31.7	31.9	–
Male	33.4	33.5	33.3	33.2	33.1	33.1	33.0	33.1	33.3	–
(h) Average leave length (months)
Female	9.2	9.4	9.5	9.6	9.9	10.1	10.1	10.2	10.2	–
Male	7.8	7.9	7.7	7.8	8.2	8.4	7.7	6.7	6.8	–

Data: National Assembly Budget Office (2019), Statistics Korea (2020a)

Note: In producing this table, I have referred, wherever possible, to statistics inclusive of both the private and public sectors but rows (f), (g), and (h) are based on the private sector due to data limits.

The number of parents who took parental leave in year t for a child born in year t / the number of children born in year t * 100

The number of parents eligible for parental leave in year t / the number of children born in year t * 100

The number of parents who took parental leave in year t for a child born in year t / the number of parents eligible for parental leave for a child born in in year t * 100

The number of parents who took parental leave between year t and year t+9 for a child born in year t / the number of children born in year t * 100

Table A2. Interviewed fathers by key characteristics (N = 51).

Current Employment		Age (mean, range)	38 (27-42)
Public sector	21	Age of youngest (mean, range)	3 (0-8)
Large private company	5	Age of youngest during leave
Small/medium private company	13	(mean, range)	2 (0-8)
Non-profit sector	8	Younger than three	40
Freelance or self-employed	3	Three or older	11
Not in employment	1	Months of leave (mean, range)
Current division of paid work		Mean (range)	13 (2-36)
Dual-earner couple	45	Up to 3 months	3
Single-earner husband	5	4–6 months	9
Single-earner wife	1	7∼11 months	9
Education		12 months	22
Secondary	1	Longer than 12 months	8
Two-year college	4	Number of leave
Four-year university	38	Once	46
Graduate degree	8	Twice	4
Monthly household income		Three times	1
Mean (range)	6.16 (1-11)	Solo or joint leave
Under 5,000,000 won	16	Solo	45
Between 5–8,000,000 won	20	Joint with wife	4
Over 8,000,000	15	In-part joint	2
Number of children		Leave ongoing or finished
One	19	Finished	32
Two	28	On first leave	15
Three	4	On second or third leave	4

Approximately $844.

1,000,000 won is approximately $834.

Table A3. Quoted interviewees.

Interviewee Code	Length (months)	Year of leave	Youngest child age at leave	Current Employment	Wife’s Employment	Note
Interviewee A	6	2019	Six	Public sector	Housewife	Single-earner, first parent to take leave
Interviewee B	8	2020	Two	Large company	Small/ medium private company	On solo leave after wife
Interviewee C	6	2015	One	Non-profit	Large private company	Wife did not take parental leave
Interviewee D	6	2020	Seven	Large company	Public sector	On solo leave after wife
Interviewee E	12	2018–2019	Two	Public sector	Public sector	Took solo leave after wife
Interviewee F	6	2018–2019	One	Public sector	Public sector	Took leave two times, solo leave after wife
Interviewee G	24	2020–2021	Three	Public sector	Public sector	On second leave; both solo after wife
Interviewee H	12	2018–2019	Two	Public sector	Public sector	Took solo leave after wife
Interviewee I	12	2016–2017	One	Small/ medium company	Large private company	1.5 years as househusband after one year of leave; wife took leave after the father, in 2020
Interviewee J	36	2017–2019	Seven	Not in employment (house-husband)	Public sector	Employed at large company before leave; took solo leave for two children in sequence after wife
Interviewee K	12	2017–2018	Zero (immediately after birth)	Freelancer	Freelancer	Employed in non-profit sector before leave; wife not eligible for paid leave

Note: The most recent leave is reported in the case the father took leave multiple times.

Table A4. Quoted blogs.

Blogger code	Name of blog/blogger	Link to blog post	Date of blog post
Blogger 1 (mom)	플라워스트릿/Flower Street/ (Flower Street)	https://blog.naver.com/flowerstreet_/221193721235	21/01/2018
Blogger 2 (dad)	정긍정/Jung Geungjung/ (Optimistic Jung)	https://blog.naver.com/jsy3180/221394154077	08/11/2018
Blogger 3 (dad)	아빠로그/Appa Log/(Daddy Log)	https://blog.naver.com/cannabis11/221384538156	25/10/2018
Blogger 4 (dad)	꼬르보/Corvo/(Corvo)	https://blog.naver.com/shdoik?Redirect = Log&logNo = 221849216432&from = postView	12/03/2020
Blogger 5 (dad)	준스토리/Joon Story/(Joon Story)	https://blog.naver.com/hw7002/221589383525	19/07/2019
Blogger 6 (mom)	부자엄마/Booja Umma/(Rich Mom)	https://blog.naver.com/zw5050/221115235576	12/10/2017
Blogger 7 (dad)	하늘누리 /Haneul Noori/ (Sky World)	https://blog.naver.com/hwani98/221231526844	3/18/2018; 23/07/2018; 13/07/2019; 12/11/2019; 26/07/2020
Blogger 8 (dad)	김한별 아나운서/Kim Han Byul Announcer/(Anchor Han Byul Kim)	https://blog.naver.com/hanbyulkim/221110131515; https://blog.naver.com/hanbyulkim/221287438581	03/10/2017; 30/05/2018
Blogger 9 (dad)	허군/Heo Gun/(Mr. Heo)	https://blog.naver.com/hswstar/221617207754	15/08/2019
Blogger 10 (dad)	삐딱한 시선/Bbiddakhan Siseon/(Crooked View)	https://blog.naver.com/wlsekffo96/30188513018	09/04/2014
Blogger 11 (mom)	내인생 주인공/Nae Insaeng Jooingong/(Hero of My Life)	https://blog.naver.com/joeun888/221995566331	09/06/2020

National Assembly Budget Office. (2019). An analysis of the characteristics and projections of financing for childcare support projects.

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Statistics Korea. (2020a). Provisional results of the parental leave statistics.

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