"Companies with More Male Parental Leave Takers Show Higher ESG Scores"

DWSG, Analysis of ESG Evaluation Results for Public Institutions
Gas and Road Public Corporations Achieve Highest ESG Scores,
Parental Leave Usage Rate Higher Than Industry Average

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Hyun-ji] An analysis has revealed that companies where men frequently take parental leave and family care leave also tend to have higher Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) evaluation scores.

According to an analysis by DUESG last year on the operation status of work-life balance systems such as parental leave, family care leave, and flexible working hours in public institutions and their ESG evaluation results, public institutions with high ESG evaluation scores showed higher usage rates of work-life balance systems among male employees compared to the average by institution type.

For example, among market-type public enterprises, Korea Gas Corporation, which received the highest ESG evaluation score, recorded male employee usage rates of parental leave, family care leave, and flexible working hours at 34.1%, 91.5%, and 58.5%, respectively, which were higher than the market-type public enterprise averages of 29.8%, 72.1%, and 51.4%.

Among quasi-market-type public enterprises, Korea Expressway Corporation, which also achieved the highest score, showed male employee usage rates of these systems at 46.4%, 40.7%, and 73.8%, respectively, exceeding the industry averages of 40.7%, 51.6%, and 33.9%.

Additionally, institutions with the highest scores such as the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (fund management-type quasi-government agency) and the Korea Railroad Corporation (commissioned quasi-government agency) also showed higher than average usage rates of these systems among male employees. This suggests that the activation of work-life balance systems for male employees can have a positive impact on the ESG evaluation of the respective institutions.

In fact, the correlation between male employees’ use of work-life balance systems and ESG scores is increasing. Last year, the correlation coefficient between women’s use of parental leave and ESG scores was 0.248, while the correlation coefficient with male usage rates was higher at 0.435. The number of men taking parental leave steadily increased from 1,432 in 2017 to 3,725 in 2021. During the same period, the proportion of men among all parental leave takers rose from 9.9% to 17.8%.

The study was conducted using a total of 79 evaluation indicators based on the ESG evaluation results of public institutions by ESG evaluation specialist agency ESGmoneta.