Employment rates, wages drop once women become mothers: study

The employment rates and wages of South Korea's female workers significantly dropped after they become mothers, with about one in two mothers leaving their jobs after giving birth, a recent study showed Monday.

According to a report released by the Korea Development Institute, women's employment rates decreased by 47.1 percent in the short term -- defined as within four years after childbirth -- and by 43.4 percent in the long term -- defined as five to 10 years after childbirth. Similarly, wage incomes dropped by 49.3 percent in the short term and 63.3 percent over the long term.

This data suggests that there is a persistent price women pay for having and caring for their children while working -- referred to as the "motherhood penalty" -- in Korea's workplaces, according to the institute.

Women in Korea did not differ significantly from women in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, the UK or the US in their employment rates and wages within four years after childbirth. However, women in Korea suffered from the highest motherhood penalty five to ten years after childbirth, particular in terms of their employment rate. In the long term, women in Sweden and Denmark experienced a considerably lower mother penalty -- at 5.2 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively -- in terms of their employment rates, compared to the 43.4 percent motherhood penalty experienced by Korean women.

KDI research fellow and study author Kim Min-sub emphasized the need for policy changes -- flexible working hours, the reduction of long working hours and a workplace culture in which taking leave is viewed as legally guaranteed rather than a privilege -- to support women to pursue their careers while having a family. Kim also called for a fundamental shift in Korean societal perceptions that housework and child care are the responsibilities of women only.