Korean women burdened with house chores

By Yoon Ja-young

Korean women get married when they are on average 29.8 years old, and give birth to an average of 1.21 children. Half of them drink, while only 3.3 percent smoke. They are especially dissatisfied with how house chores are shared with their spouses.

These are part of statistics on the lives of Korean women, released Thursday.

According to data by Statistics Korea, there are 25.32 million women in Korea, outnumbering the 25.30 million men.

Korean women are on average 29.8 years old when they get married for the first time, while their bridegrooms are 32.4. When Korean women get married for the second time, they are 43 years old on average while their grooms are 47.1 years old.

Married Korean women spend more than four hours doing house chores daily.

Life seems to be tougher for working women who are married. While they spent 2 hours and 47 minutes less than housewives doing chores at home, they work 4 hours and 47 minutes more to make a living. In total, they spent two more hours working, while having 1 hour and 48 minutes less free time than housewives.

Females were unhappy with how the burden of housework is shared with their husbands. Those in their 40s or with a higher education were especially dissatisfied. Statistics show that Korean men dedicated only 31 minutes a day to housework. This compares with Canadian men who spend 2 hours and 10 minutes managing their home, or men in the U.S. the U.K., Australia or New Zealand, who all spend more than 1 hour and 30 minutes on home management.

The low fertility rate was also evident in the statistics. The fertility rate, or the number of babies born per woman, stood at 1.21 last year, which is among the world’s lowest, although it is 0.02 more than the previous year.

The data also showed that married and elderly women took better care of their health than single or young women. Taking better care of one’s health includes having breakfast, sleeping adequate hours, exercising regularly and getting medical checkups. Only one out of four women in their 20s or 30s regularly exercises.

Among females age 20 or older, 3.3 percent said they smoke, while 50.9 percent drink.

The employment rate of women stood at 49.5 percent, which compares with a 71.4 percent employment rate with men.

It also showed the improving social status of women. In 2014, 74.6 percent of girls went to college, while only 67.6 percent of boys sought a college diploma.

At elementary schools, three out of four teachers are females, and around half of vice principals are females.

The ratio of female doctors stood at 24.4 percent in 2014. Among pharmacists, 64.3 percent are females, and the ratio stands at 15.7 percent for lawmakers.

Four out of 10 couples in Korea are double income households, but 20.7 percent of married women had a career break due to pregnancy, childbirth or childcare.