More effort needed to enable women to keep working
The nation's gender gap in employment remains wide despite a number of policies and budgets, according to a study by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. The study, titled “Life of Men and Women through Statistics,” found that the employment rate of women stood at 51.2 percent last year, far lower than men's employment rate of 70 percent. Last year's 18.8-point gender gap in the employment rate was similar to the 19.1-point difference the year before.
Other indicators also show that there is a long way to go before gender equality is achieved here. Nearly half of employed women (47.4 percent) were contract workers without job security, including those with temporary positions. In contrast, only 31 percent of male employees were contract workers. The gender wage gap was still huge, as the hourly wages of female employees averaged 15,804 won ($11.50), which was only 69.8 percent of men's hourly wages, which reached 22,637 won. Unsurprisingly, the employment rate of Korean women was dead last among OECD member countries.
One reason why fewer women are employed here is that the responsibility for childbirth, childcare, cooking and housework is placed solely on women. After marriage, many women opt to take a career break, which is one reason for the greater percentage of contract jobs among women and the bigger wage gap between men and women.
The government has made a number of efforts to narrow the gender employment gap. Various laws were enacted and amended to ensure paternity leave, boost women's economic activities and prevent women from taking career breaks. However, little has changed. That is why more comprehensive and structural efforts are needed to enable women to work without interruption, with equitable wages and job security.
To begin with, it's necessary to introduce viable short-term measures such as flexible working arrangements for women and stepped-up vocational training for women so that they can return to work post-career break. No less important is that President Yoon Suk-yeol should do his utmost to clear doubts about his commitment to gender equality amid the criticism about his campaign pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.