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Video Description

Type: KIHASA Policy Featurette

Topic: Why Is Korea's Birthrate So Low despite Its Family Support Programs?

Guest Speakers: Jeon Yoon-jung, Legislative Researcher, National Assembly Research Service; Professor Yoo Sam-hyun, Hanyang University; Choi Sun-young, Associate Research Fellow, KIHASA

Transcript

Narrator:

The government is also paying close attention to work-life balance policies. But the country’s birth rate remains in a persistent decline.

Jeon:

The parental leave program is the most advanced and most well-known work-life balance support program in Korea. In terms of the quality of its design, it is on a par with the best in the world―a world-class program.

Yoo:

We compared and contrasted Korea’s birth and family support policies with those of leading countries in Europe and found that Korea's policies do not significantly lag behind.

Narrator:

Why have Korea’s work-life balance programs failed to boost its birthrate?

Choi:

Work-life balance policies―such as parental leave and reduced working hours―are not applied uniformly across Korea’s labor market, nor are they accessible to all workers. In workplaces offering so-called “decent jobs,” the culture is shifting rapidly to allow workers to take parental leave without feeling guilty. However, many women are more likely to hold unstable rather than secure jobs. As a result, while family support programs appear to be expanding and offering greater benefits on the surface, their actual adoption and accessibility among the broader population remain quite limited.