"Why Is Only Mom's Parental Leave Long?" Advanced Countries Eliminating Gender Distinction [K Population Strategy]

(37) Overseas Also Struggle with Work-Family Balance
Higher-Income Countries like the US and Europe Show Smaller Gender Labor Participation Gaps
Gender-Neutral Parental Leave Becomes an Issue Abroad
Addressing Side Effects of Flexible Work Systems Remains a Challenge

Editor's NoteThe key to solving South Korea's population problem lies within companies. A workplace culture that evaluates employees based on their work regardless of gender and a family-friendly environment are crucial to addressing the K-population issue. While low birth rates are influenced by multiple factors, it is important to ensure that workplace burdens do not become obstacles that make people hesitate to have children. Asia Economy visits companies leading family-friendly policies to identify the factors that helped these systems take root stably, and plans to explore various approaches with companies facing practical challenges. Through this, we encourage change starting from companies and analyze the government's role in enabling this. We listen to voices emphasizing that company culture and atmosphere that reduce psychological burdens are more important than financial support, and present alternatives from various perspectives.

Work-life balance is a key issue not only in Korea but also overseas. This is because women's participation in the labor market and the increase of dual-income couples are global trends. Major countries are interested in creating environments where parents can simultaneously manage work and childcare while alleviating the childcare burden that has traditionally fallen on women. In particular, the role of companies is gaining attention as they introduce systems that allow parental leave to be used regardless of gender and build systems that enable parents to organize their work and life flexibly through flexible working hours.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Global Increase in Female Employment and Dual-Income Couples: "Solve Childcare Issues" Mission

Women's social participation in the global labor market is mainly occurring in high-income countries. According to the World Bank (WB), the global average female labor force participation rate was 52.9% in 2019, maintaining a similar level for over 30 years.

Although about 30 percentage points lower than men (78.5%), it is noteworthy that the gap has significantly narrowed in major countries compared to the past. The female labor force participation rate in high-income countries is 67.3%, higher than in other income groups. Regarding the gender gap in labor force participation rates, North America (10 percentage points), Europe (13.8 percentage points), and East Asia-Pacific (14 percentage points) regions have smaller gaps than the global average (25.6 percentage points).

With the expansion of women's social participation, the number of dual-income couples has naturally increased. Since the 2010s, among OECD member countries, less than one-third of families with one or more children have men as the sole breadwinners. In countries like Belgium, Denmark, and France, the proportion of dual-income households where parents work 30-39 hours per week is higher than in other countries. In some European countries such as Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, complex forms of dual-income households are common, where fathers work more than 40 hours per week and mothers work less than 30 hours per week.

According to a survey by the Pew Research Center released in April last year, in the United States, where female social participation is high, the proportion of families where men are the sole breadwinners decreased by more than half from 49% in 1972 to 23% in 2023.

However, despite these changes, the childcare burden still falls disproportionately on women both domestically and internationally. This can be confirmed by the usage rates of parental leave systems. According to the WB, in 1970, only 13 out of 190 countries allowed paternity leave (including childbirth leave), but by 2021, this expanded to 114 countries. Although the number of countries introducing paternity leave systems has greatly increased, the average number of days of parental leave taken by men in 2021 was only 21 days, far less than women's 191 days. Research also shows that even when women contribute significantly to household income, they spend more time on housework and childcare than men.

As a result, solving childcare issues has become a top priority worldwide. With more young couples reluctant to have children due to childcare burdens, leading to declining birth rates, governments of major countries concerned about population decline have begun to take action. Governments are promoting policies such as expanding free childcare and placing emphasis on supporting companies to play a key role. For example, the Biden administration in the U.S. last year made the installation of childcare facilities a condition for subsidies for semiconductor manufacturing plants. Since the U.S. is one of the few OECD countries that does not legally guarantee maternity or parental leave, providing childcare facilities is considered the best welfare companies can offer.

"Should Only Mothers Have Long Parental Leave?"... Increasing Adoption of Gender-Neutral Parental Leave Overseas

Recently, overseas interest in gender-neutral parental leave such as 'shared parental leave,' 'equal parental leave,' and 'de-gendering' has increased. This concept goes beyond providing parental leave separately for men and women, giving parents the choice of who uses the leave so that childcare responsibilities can be shared. This concept spread in the 1990s in countries like Norway and Sweden by allocating mandatory usage rates of parental leave to men, which was previously only available to women.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Even in the United States, where paid maternity leave is not provided, large companies are increasingly adopting such gender-neutral parental leave systems. Not only big tech companies like Google and Pinterest with well-established welfare, but also Wall Street firms like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, which have been criticized for lack of diversity, have introduced these systems one after another.

For example, Standard Chartered (SC) Group introduced a system in September last year allowing any employee worldwide to take 20 weeks of paid parental leave regardless of gender. This expanded the 20 weeks of paid maternity leave, which had been provided only to women since 2017, to men as well from September 1 last year, equalizing the duration of spousal parental leave. Women can take up to two years of parental leave, but for childbirth leave, any employee who becomes a parent can take leave with 100% pay regardless of gender. As a result, SC Group's domestic affiliate, SC First Bank, expanded spousal parental leave (including adoption) from 10 business days to up to 100 business days, and as of December last year, three male employees took spousal parental leave timed with the birth of their children.

The gender-neutral parental leave system has also led to an actual increase in men's use of parental leave. Aviva, the UK's largest life insurance company, has offered a gender-neutral parental leave system since 2017, allowing employees in the UK to take 26 weeks of leave with full basic pay. The system does not restrict gender or the method of becoming a parent, such as childbirth or adoption. From 2018 to June 2022, among about 2,500 employees who took parental leave, 1,227 (half) were men, and 99% of eligible men used the system. Among 268 employees who took parental leave more than twice, 131 were men.

Although the UK legally introduced a system in 2015 allowing parents to share parental leave, only 2% of men actually use it. Considering this, Aviva's case shows that government policies combined with corporate implementation can produce greater effects.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Some overseas companies divide childcare responsibilities not by gender but by primary and secondary caregivers. For example, LEGO, a global company from Denmark, distinguishes between primary and secondary caregivers regardless of gender, granting 26 weeks of paid parental leave to the primary caregiver and 8 weeks to the secondary caregiver. Parents can decide who is the primary or secondary caregiver themselves.

How to Prevent Flexible Work from Becoming Another Form of Gender Discrimination

After parental leave, various flexible work arrangements such as staggered working hours and reduced working hours are gaining attention during the childcare process. This is because female workers who had to leave their jobs due to childcare can now work shorter hours or flexibly manage their time, making it easier to resolve childcare issues.

In Korea, there has been a tendency to reduce flexible work arrangements introduced during COVID-19, but in countries like the U.S., demand for flexible work remains high, and more companies maintain these systems than in Korea. Since the U.S. does not legally provide parental leave, such corporate policies are considered an important factor when choosing a workplace. Due to the spread of flexible work, as of June last year, the proportion of women with children under five in the U.S. reached a record high of 70.4%.

However, academia has begun to analyze that flexible work chosen for childcare may negatively affect gender equality in the workplace, and there are calls to prepare measures to prevent this. Some studies suggest that employees working in offices or on-site may receive higher performance evaluations and have advantages in promotion competition compared to those working remotely. At the same time, other analyses show that men working flexibly tend to share more housework and childcare, improving gender equality at home. Academic research on this topic is active.

Special Coverage Team 'K-Population Strategy - Gender Equality is the Answer'

Reporters Yuri Kim, Hyunju Lee, Hyunjin Jung, Aeri Boo, Byungseon Gong, Juni Park, Seungseop Song
Economic and Financial Editor Pilsoo Kim