Eyeing birthrate, Korea sets 70% target for fathers' parental leave

South Korea plans to encourage new fathers to take paternity leave for child care, aiming for a 70 percent usage rate by 2030, the government announced Tuesday.

The percentage of men taking paternity leave to care for children stood at 6.8 percent, in the public sector and private sector combined, as of 2022. The Yoon Suk Yeol government aims to increase the rate to 50 percent by 2027, the final year of the administration, and to 70 percent three years later.

The administration believes that its previously announced package for encouraging people to have children, such as taking parental leave in two-week chunks with a 2.5 million won ($1,780) monthly salary cap, would help raise the rate.

The rate of new mothers taking maternity leave to care for their children would also increase to 80 percent by 2027 and 85 percent by 2030, from 70 percent as of 2022, according to the blueprint.

These are among the goals set at the meeting of the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy at the Government Complex Seoul on Tuesday, which suggested setting the goal of reaching a fertility rate of 1.0 per woman by 2030. Currently the fertility rate is 0.72.

The committee aims to lower the rate of women aged 30 to 44 who do not return to work after maternity leave from the current 22.3 percent to 15 percent by 2027 and 10 percent by 2030.

“The government will assess how the work-family balance is at play, how the culture of shared parenting and working parenthood take root in the workplace,” Lim Huing-chul, secretary-general of the presidential committee, said in a briefing.

Lim, however, added their plan to encourage more fathers to use paternity leave needs private-sector cooperation, budget spending and legislation.

The committee also suggested that up to 210,000 people could be eligible for fertility testing by 2027 nationwide, from some 80,000 as of 2023.

In the education and child care sector, the government set a goal to significantly reduce the average waiting time for child care services from 33 days in 2023 to 10 days by 2027 and 5 days by 2030. The child care service is a system where caregivers visit households with children under 12 to provide care.

According to the presidential committee, it would take feedback from ministries subject to the committee‘s assessment as to whether these goals are deemed realistic.

Also among the agenda at the meeting, the sixth of its kind since President Yoon declared an all-out war against a “national emergency on population” in June, were ways to expand benefits for a wider range of parents with two or more children in airports, give parents with newborn babies or premature babies greater access to medical infrastructure, among others.

South Korea‘s fertility rate has spiraled down to the lowest point over the past decade. As of 2023, the birth rate stood at 0.72.

However, according to a projection by the National Assembly Budget Office in October, the fertility rate for 2024 is expected to climb up to 0.74.

In the latest government data available, three of 10 eligible parents used parental leaves as of 2022, up 4.3 percentage points from the previous year.

A South Korean parent is eligible to use up to a year of parental leave. Starting in February, however, each parent's total leave period can be extended to 18 months following law revision.

Seoul has also moved to raise the cap on compensation for parents on parental leave to, for example, 2.5 million won, from 1.5 million won, for the first three months of their leave.