"Mandatory Paternity Leave Starting with Public Institutions"... To Reduce Gender Wage Gap [K Population Strategy]

A Culture Supporting Work-Family Balance Policies Must Be Established
Institutional Improvements Needed for Public Service Exams, etc.
"More Gender-Equal Countries Have Higher Birth Rates"

Experts unanimously agreed that in order to recover the birth rate, a culture of gender equality must first be established in public institutions. They emphasized the need to create an environment where work-family balance systems, such as mandatory paternity leave, can be utilized, and to strengthen institutional measures to prevent gender imbalance.

According to the study "A Study on the Relationship between Birth Rate and Gender Equality according to Socioeconomic Development (2023)" published by Jae-Sang Lee, Director of the Happy Family Making Research Institute, through the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, the birth rate tends to be higher in advanced countries (late industrialized nations) when gender equality is practiced not only individually but also within family roles between spouses, and in organizational roles in workplaces and public sectors. Director Lee stated, “It is necessary to implement systems for work-family balance, such as mandatory paternity leave, starting with public institutions where government intervention is relatively easier,” adding, “It is important to create a culture throughout society through such efforts.”

Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

Sook-Jin Lee, CEO of DSG, also said, "Public institutions have better institutional guarantees such as parental leave and family care leave compared to private institutions, but still, men account for only 22.46% (5,366 men) of all parental leave takers," and added, "Measures such as implementing a male parental leave quota system are needed to enable both men and women to practically use parental leave."

She continued, "The reason why the length of service for women in public institutions is shorter than that of men is because the glass ceiling in promotion and salary increases still exists, and work-family balance systems are not well established," emphasizing, "A ‘Gender Equality Wage and Employment Disclosure System’ that publicly discloses data such as gender wage gaps and length of service by rank starting from public institutions must be implemented."

There are also calls for institutional measures beyond simple disclosure to prevent gender imbalance. Since the enforcement of the 2022 'Capital Market Act Amendment,' listed large corporations with assets exceeding 2 trillion won are prohibited from composing their boards of directors with only one gender. However, the amendment applies only to private companies, excluding public institutions. In the UK, when appointing heads of public institutions, diversity is one of the key principles alongside integrity, competence, transparency of the personnel process, reliability, and fairness of appointments. Public personnel appointments should reflect the diversity of real society, including gender, disability, and race. Bok-Sil Lee, former Chairperson of the Korea branch of the Global Women Directors Network, said, "In Korea, systems are in place in the private sector, and companies are striving to improve governance, but there is no related law for public institutions," adding, "Public institutions also need mandatory systems to expand female senior positions, similar to the private sector."

Is there actually a correlation between gender equality and birth rate? In most countries, the smaller the gender equality gap, the higher the birth rate tends to be. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report released last year, Iceland, which ranked first for the 14th consecutive year with a gender gap index of 0.912, has a birth rate of 1.8. The gender gap index closer to 1 indicates better gender equality. Following Iceland, countries ranked 2nd to 5th with smaller gaps?Norway (0.879), Finland (0.863), New Zealand (0.856), and Sweden (0.815)?also recorded birth rates averaging in the 1.6 range.

Min-Sook Heo, Legislative Research Officer at the National Assembly Legislative Research Office, said, "When examining countries that consistently maintain high birth rates, the first characteristic is that they are gender-equal countries, and the second is that female employment rates reach 80%, meaning there is no gap with male employment rates," adding, "When wage gaps decrease and men and women share childcare responsibilities, gender is no longer a factor when entering the labor market." She emphasized, "It is important to reduce the wage gap for women and prevent career interruptions."