More South Korean Fathers Take Parental Leave as Families Face a Demographic Crisis

Fathers take a larger share of childcare leave

Men accounted for more than 28% of parental leave recipients in South Korea in 2023, up from just 5.6% in 2015, as the country expanded support for parents while confronting very low fertility and rapid population aging. More recent reports put the share above 36%, although no reference period was given for that figure.

The rise is changing how some families divide childcare. Fathers who once faced strong expectations to concentrate on paid work are increasingly taking time away from their jobs to care for children. Government incentives, changing attitudes among younger generations and gradual changes inside workplaces have all helped encourage participation.

South Korea's demographic pressures remain severe. Its total fertility rate fell to 0.72 in 2023 before rising slightly to 0.75 in 2024. The rate estimates the average number of children a woman would have over her lifetime under current fertility patterns. About 2.1 children per woman are needed to maintain a stable population.

Reforms taking effect in February 2025 doubled paid paternity leave from 10 to 20 days. That entitlement around a child's birth sits alongside broader parental leave policies, which support longer periods of childcare. Both are part of efforts to make parenting easier to combine with employment and to involve fathers more directly.

For families, the practical issue reaches beyond permission to take leave. Parents need enough income while away from work, employers willing to accommodate their absence and working arrangements that allow them to keep sharing care after returning. The growing participation of fathers marks progress, but mothers still carry much of the responsibility.

How much has fathers' participation grown?

The total number of Koreans taking parental leave rose by 14.2% to nearly 200,000 in 2022. Men's growing share of recipients shows that leave is becoming more common among fathers as well as more widely used across the workforce.

Between 2015 and 2023, the male share rose from 5.6% to more than 28%, an increase of more than five times. Academic research also describes a fivefold rise in the number of fathers taking leave in recent years. These measures capture related changes: one concerns men's share of all recipients, while the other concerns the number of fathers participating.

Younger parents are reconsidering expectations that mothers should provide most care while fathers focus on earning a living. Policy changes have supported that shift by making leave more financially attractive and encouraging both parents to participate.

Workplace measures have changed too. The proportion of male workers using flexible working hours increased from 4.7% in 2015 to 17.1%. Satisfaction with workplace culture around work and family has improved among both men and women, while more companies are offering support to employees with young children.

What changed in the 2025 reforms?

Amendments to the Gender Equal Employment and Work-Family Balance Act and the Labor Standards Act, passed in late 2024, expanded several forms of support in 2025. The changes address time away from work, income support and the working hours available to parents.

Paid paternity leave doubled from 10 to 20 days starting in February 2025. Fathers can take the leave within 120 days of a child's birth and use it in up to three installments. Splitting the entitlement allows time away from work to be spread across that period.

The wider package includes:

• Higher government wage subsidies for employers supporting parental leave.
• An increase in maternity leave for premature births from 90 to 100 days.
• Broader eligibility for reduced working hours during pregnancy and childcare.
• The introduction of short periods of childcare leave.
• More support for fertility treatments.

The government has also increased childcare leave benefits, simplified application procedures and introduced subsidies for employers that hire temporary replacements during an employee's parental leave. These measures address both the household cost of taking leave and the staffing needs of workplaces.

Policymakers intend the reforms to make leave more accessible and attractive, especially for fathers, while reducing the stigma attached to men taking time away from work for family responsibilities.

How policy moved beyond maternity protection

South Korea's parental leave system has changed substantially over three decades. Early reforms concentrated on maternity protection. Fathers initially had access to unpaid parental leave only if their wives were employed, reflecting a system in which mothers were treated as the main caregivers.

Falling fertility later pushed policy toward encouraging childbirth and helping women remain in employment. More recently, reforms have placed greater weight on gender equality and fathers' direct involvement in raising children.

Incentive schemes such as the measure known as "daddy's month" provide additional benefits when both parents take leave. The aim is to make sharing childcare a more practical financial choice rather than leaving one parent to absorb most of the time away from work.

The main developments span several periods:

• Over the past three decades, parental leave policy expanded from a focus on maternity protection toward childbirth support, women's employment and shared care.
• In 2015, men represented 5.6% of parental leave recipients, and 4.7% of male workers used flexible working hours.
• In 2022, parental leave participation rose by 14.2% to nearly 200,000 people.
• In 2023, men's share of leave recipients exceeded 28%, while the fertility rate fell to 0.72.
• In late 2024, lawmakers passed amendments expanding support for working parents.
• In February 2025, paid paternity leave increased from 10 to 20 days.

What happens when fathers return to work?

Academic research suggests that some fathers still take parental leave as a last resort, when other childcare arrangements are unavailable. Their participation can therefore reflect an urgent family need as well as a deliberate decision to divide care more equally.

After leave, some fathers try to remain closely involved at home. They adjust their working schedules or change jobs to make room for childcare. Others return to demanding routines and rely again on their spouses or on grandparents.

Long working hours make this difficult. A strong preference for care within the family, together with skepticism toward formal childcare services, has also narrowed the options available to households in which both parents work.

Mothers continue to bear much of the burden when a father's leave ends. A temporary period of shared care can be hard to sustain if the same long hours and expectations resume at work. The growing use of flexible schedules matters because families need arrangements that continue beyond a few days or months of leave.

Traditional gender roles remain influential. Fathers can face pressure to put work first, while women are often expected to interrupt their careers or leave employment after childbirth. Changes in law are taking place alongside a slower adjustment in expectations at home and in the workplace.

Can more generous leave support births and employment?

Research offers different assessments of how much expanded leave can achieve. Some studies suggest that more generous benefits can encourage childbirth and help women stay in career oriented employment, narrowing the gap between men's and women's participation in paid work.

Other research points to limits when long working hours, expensive childcare and persistent gender expectations continue. A parent may have a legal right to leave yet still face financial pressure or concern about how an absence will be received at work.

Incentives for both parents to use leave are considered more effective at increasing men's participation than simply mandating it. Financial support can make sharing leave easier for a household, while employer assistance can help workplaces manage an employee's absence.

Women's employment figures show progress alongside the remaining pressures. The employment rate among women aged 15 to 64 reached 61.4%, and career breaks among married women decreased by about 35% from 2015. A substantial gender pay gap nevertheless persists, and women remain more likely to carry the career costs of childcare.

Flexible work arrangements, childcare subsidies and support for employers form part of the government's response. Their practical value depends on whether parents can use them together to maintain both employment and daily care responsibilities.

Why having children remains difficult

High living costs, expensive education, insecure employment and a demanding work culture weigh on decisions about starting a family. For many young people, these pressures make it difficult to picture a stable future with children.

Marriage patterns have changed too. The average age at marriage has risen, and the number of first marriages has fallen by more than 37% since 2015. Households consisting of one person now account for more than a third of all households, reflecting changes in lifestyles and priorities.

South Korea has spent more than 360 trillion won, about $270 billion, on family support programs since 2006. Those programs include cash payments for newborns, expanded parental leave and increased childcare subsidies. Fertility remains far below the level needed to maintain a stable population.

The difficulty for policymakers is that these pressures occur together. A family may receive a payment after a birth while still facing high housing and education costs, uncertainty about employment and limited time for childcare. Leave can address part of that strain, while other support is needed throughout a child's upbringing.

Some proposals call for a larger change in how care is valued, treating parenting as a public service. They include universal, mandatory parental leave with income support sufficient to maintain living standards. Other proposals call for greater investment in affordable childcare of high quality and more flexible working options for mothers and fathers.

What explains the rise in births in 2024?

South Korea recorded 238,300 births in 2024, an increase of 3.6%. Its fertility rate rose from 0.72 to 0.75, the first increase in nearly a decade. The improvement offered some relief after years of declining births, though the rate remained far below 2.1.

A 14.9% increase in marriages helped explain the rebound. Couples who had postponed weddings during the COVID-19 pandemic married, contributing to a rise in births. A larger number of women in their early 30s, described as the most fertile age group, also supported the increase.

Cash bonuses for newborns, expanded paternity leave and greater support for working parents have contributed to the positive trend. Pyeongtaek, where investment has supported new housing and job opportunities, has recorded birth rates above the national average.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family continues to track population changes, household patterns and labor market participation to inform policy decisions. Those measures connect family choices with changes in employment and living arrangements.

The durability of the rebound is uncertain. The number of people in their 20s is now smaller than the number in their 30s, meaning the pool of potential parents will shrink in the years ahead. The recent increase has therefore been viewed by many experts as a temporary recovery associated with delayed marriages and the age profile of women having children.

What a smaller, older population means

South Korea is now classified as a "super-aged" society, with more than 20% of its population aged 65 or older. Low fertility and a growing older population are putting pressure on the future size of the workforce and the systems that support older residents.

Population projections suggest a decline from a peak of 51.8 million in 2020 to 36.2 million by 2072 if current trends continue. That is a reduction of 15.6 million people, or about 30% of the 2020 total.

A smaller population would affect the economy, social welfare systems and the country's global standing. These pressures explain why policies about leave, childcare and women's employment have become central to the demographic debate.

For parents, the immediate stakes are more concrete: whether they can afford time away from work, find reliable care and continue in their jobs. Fathers taking a larger share of childcare can support their partners' careers and help narrow gender differences in employment.

South Korea's experience also offers lessons for other countries facing low fertility and population aging. Its policy changes show how financial support, workplace expectations and family preferences act together. Continued progress depends on making shared parenting workable after leave ends, as well as helping young adults feel secure enough to marry and have children.

Key Points

• Men's share of parental leave recipients rose from 5.6% in 2015 to more than 28% in 2023; more recent reports place it above 36%.
• Paid paternity leave doubled from 10 to 20 days in February 2025, alongside broader support for pregnancy, childbirth and childcare.
• Births increased by 3.6% to 238,300 in 2024, while the fertility rate rose from 0.72 to 0.75.
• A 14.9% rise in marriages and more women in their early 30s helped support the birth rebound.
• Long working hours, high costs and unequal care responsibilities continue to make parenting difficult.
• More than 20% of the population is aged 65 or older, and projections put the population at 36.2 million by 2072, compared with 51.8 million in 2020.