Parental Leave, Immigration, and Employment Statistics to Be Detailed... "Expanding Social Inclusion"

Statistics Korea Announces 2020 Major Work Promotion Plan

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The government plans to further segment statistics related to parental leave, immigration, and suicide to expand social inclusiveness. It also intends to develop new statistics related to jobs and corporate management methods to improve economic vitality.

On the 17th, Statistics Korea announced the '2020 Major Work Plan of Statistics Korea' containing these details. This year, reflecting economic and social changes and the expansion of statistical demand, the plan emphasized the newly developed and improved national statistics supporting policies as the top priority. Last year, these were mentioned third after statistical governance and the establishment of a data hub.

First, new job mobility statistics analyzing employment changes such as entry, retention, job change, and unemployment among workers aged 15 and older, as well as job mobility statistics for new graduates, will be developed. Additionally, new statistics supporting precise diagnoses such as corporate innovation to strengthen corporate competitiveness will be created. The specific announcement dates for these two statistics have not yet been determined. Starting in May, timely household income and consumption expenditure changes and household financial condition diagnostics will be newly published based on the Household Trends Survey results.

Statistics aimed at expanding social inclusiveness will also newly emerge. Utilizing administrative data, parental leave statistics supporting work-family balance policies will be newly developed and announced by the end of this year. This will include surveys on parental leave usage rates by gender of children aged 0 to 8, parental characteristics, and industry. Population estimates by immigration background to support multicultural family and foreigner policy expansion will be developed and announced earlier in October. These estimates will be prepared separately for domestic and foreign nationals by immigration background, gender, and age. Furthermore, by operating the Suicide Trend System and publishing the monthly 'Suicide Trend Report,' the government will support the establishment of suicide prevention policies at the inter-ministerial level.

In addition, regional income statistics by income approach for each city and province and by industrial activity will be trial-produced, and the development of regional supply tables reflecting characteristics such as inter-regional migration to conduct in-depth economic effect analysis will be promoted. Other plans include ▲regional community surveys measuring quality of life by region to support balanced development policy formulation ▲National Transfer Accounts for evidence-based policy making (November) ▲quality of life indicators segmented by elderly and region (December) ▲and the Korean Safety Report (December), which systematically covers safety issues including disasters, accidents, and fine dust.

Alongside the development of new statistics, the three quinquennial censuses?▲2020 Population and Housing Census (October-November) ▲2020 Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Census (December) ▲2021 Economic Census (June-July)?were also highlighted as core tasks. Each will add new survey items to enhance completeness and strengthen policy support by reflecting social changes.

Specifically, the Population and Housing Census will include survey items on single-person households, UN SDGs, and life safety (fire alarms, extinguishers). The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Census will newly select items related to smart agriculture and convenience/infrastructure in rural areas. The Economic Census will consider adding new items to measure the digital economy, such as the introduction of smart factories and unmanned payment devices.

Statistics Korea will also establish an integrated management system to facilitate convenient use of statistical data and expand the comprehensive statistical register. Non-face-to-face electronic surveys will increase during data collection, and big data and remote sensing technologies will be introduced.