Jung Da-hyun is a reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues in Korea, including foreign residents, education, environment and politics. Driven by a deep interest in people’s stories, she focuses on investigative and feature reporting through direct interviews and field coverage. She received the Amnesty International Korea Media Award for her “Deepfake Crisis at Schools” series. Reach her at dahyun08@koreatimes.co.kr. Always open to hearing your stories.
New report reveals large gender pay gaps for elderly, new parents
Elderly jobseekers fill out resumes at a job fair held in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, June 11. Yonhap
By Jung Da-hyun
A persistent gender pay gap remains among Korea’s older workers, with elderly women earning just 59 percent of what their male peers make.
A report released Sunday by the Korea Employment Information Service found that, as of June 2024, about 729,000 elderly wage earners — defined as those born before 1963 — were active in the labor force. Among them, 75 percent had entered the workforce after age 60 and another 75 percent were employed at small or medium-sized businesses. The report also noted that 53.9 percent held part-time positions.
Elderly workers were primarily employed in production and social service sectors, with an average monthly real income of 1.84 million won ($1,339) at the time of hiring. However, a stark gender disparity was evident.
Male elderly workers earned an average of 2.26 million won, while their female counterparts made just 1.33 million won — amounting to only 59 percent of men’s earnings.
The report noted that job stability and wages tend to decline as workers age and the gender pay gap within this demographic remains particularly wide.
In addition, just 9.5 percent of elderly wage earners — around 260,000 people — had formally retired from their original jobs. Among them, only 37.5 percent, or approximately 94,000, were rehired by the same employer.
Elderly workers are not the only place where gender gaps are unusually visible. There are also noticable gender gaps in childbirth-related employment benefits.
The same report found that 40.9 percent of insured male employees received no benefits such as paid paternity leave, compared to just 3.2 percent of female employees.
The data suggests many men still forgo parental leave, likely fearing it could hinder their career advancement.
Notably, the report found that men with higher incomes and more stable jobs were less likely to take advantage of parental benefits, in contrast to women.
Income disparities after childbirth also highlight gendered divides.
While male employees who became fathers saw their annual earnings steadily increase, female employees experienced a sharp decline in income in the first two years after childbirth, with earnings recovering only after three years.
The report found that a disproportionately high number of workers who gave birth were employed in stable occupations such as management, professional or clerical roles. The data suggests that in Korea, those with more secure employment are more likely to have children.