Nearly 50% of pregnant women suffer from lack of consideration in workplace: study

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Nearly half of pregnant women who are employed experienced difficulties in the workplace caused by colleagues and supervisors' lack of consideration, a study revealed on Tuesday, suggesting necessary improvements in coping with the country's exceptionally low fertility rate.

The Korea Population Health and Welfare Association surveyed 1,000 pregnant women and 1,000 non-pregnant individuals, and found that 43.9 percent of pregnant women with jobs identified judgment from colleagues and supervisors as the most negative experience during pregnancy.

Around 22 percent pointed out that the most challenging aspect was discomfort due to physical changes, and 20.6 percent raised the need to expand rest areas and break times in the workplace.

Around 40 percent of pregnant women emphasized the need for adjusted commuting hours, while 19.8 percent believed changing job roles to a safer environment was a crucial consideration in the workplace.

"Additional government policies to enhance the work environment for pregnant women and those who have recently given birth are needed such as the ability to utilize childcare leave without facing disapproval from the workplace,” said a woman in her 30s, surnamed Chung, who had a baby in December 2020.

At home, 34.5 percent of pregnant women chose a lack of understanding and support from family members for their physical and emotional changes, caused by pregnancy, as the most negative experience.

Indicating the necessity of assistance, 36.8 percent emphasized the importance of sharing household chores, while 19.7 percent highlighted the importance of emotional support.

In daily life during pregnancy, 58.9 percent said the most negative experience was people smoking in public.

While 85.1 percent of non-pregnant individuals surveyed claimed to have shown consideration for pregnant women, only 63 percent of pregnant women reported receiving help or consideration from strangers.

Approximately 24 percent of women surveyed cited the provision of seats in public transportation as the most necessary consideration, followed by establishing more smoke-free environments at 16.2 percent and providing dedicated parking spaces for pregnant women at 14.3 percent.

Nearly 90 percent of respondents used priority seats for pregnant women in public transportation, but 42.2 percent of those said it was sometimes not easy to access the seating.

In 2022, Korea registered a total fertility rate of 0.78, surpassing its own previous record for the world's lowest fertility rate.

This has led various government offices as well as private companies to draw up and prepare relevant policies in a bid to overcome the significantly decreasing fertility rate that is feared to accelerate the demographic cliff, referring to a major decline in the working population.