South Korea’s labor regulators are set to revamp a package of paid parental leave benefits to promote a better work-life balance among workers after the country‘s birth rates plummeted to a historic low of 0.6 in the fourth quarter of 2023. The ruling People Power Party (PPP) also unveiled its first pledges for a coming legislative election, including compulsory one-month paternity leave for spouses and a raise in the maximum payout for parental leave.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor recently embarked on a research project focused on strengthening parental leave policies and increasing their coverage, according to sources familiar with the government’s move on Monday.

In the first stage of the project, regulators are likely to analyze global examples of parental leave and examine the need for increasing the current paid parental leave. Under the law, parental leave benefits provide 80 percent of pay for up to a year for full-time workers, which is capped at 1.5 million won ($1,123) per person.

But there are calls for an increase in the cap, and the ruling party has promised to raise the cap to 2.1 million won as a pledge for the general election on April 10th, 2024.



Labor regulators will also evaluate how effectively employees have taken their leave. Under the Employment Insurance Act, employees on parental leave receive 25 percent of their paid benefits six months after the parental leave ends and they return to work. Critics say the post-payment scheme is unconstitutional interference, although it is designed to encourage employees to return to work.

In response to the criticism, the labor ministry will assess employment retention rates to gauge the effectiveness of the post-payment system. The authority is also considering an extension of spousal leave to one month, a significant step in encouraging men to take parental leave and play a more active role in childcare.

According to the latest data from Statistics Korea, only 30.2 percent of parents with children born in 2022 took parental leave. Of mothers, 70 percent took their parental leave, with only 6.8 percent of fathers on paid leave.

By Lee Jin-han, Kim Jung-hwan, Lee Yoon-sik and Han Yubin

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