South Korea offers the longest paid paternal child care leave among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the organization’s 2015 report.

Based on the OECD family database, Korean fathers were entitled to up to 52.6 weeks of paid leave in 2014, well above the OECD average of nine weeks. Japan and France followed with 52 and 28 weeks, while nine offered no specific paid leave for fathers at all.

Countries with shorter paid leaves generally paid higher wages to their workers during their absence. Of the 11 countries that paid 100 percent of their workers’ wages during their time off, Lithuania had the longest fully paid leave at four weeks.

Korean law grants paid leave for parenthood to anyone who has paid for employment insurance for at least 180 days. The law stipulates that as much as 40 percent of a worker’s regular wages can be paid to him or her.

But the percentage of male workers actually taking paid leave remains far lower than that of female workers, according to the Labor Ministry.

As of October 2015, only 5.4 percent ― or 3,952 ― of the 72,905 workers who took paid leave were men, although it marked a slight rise from 4.5 percent the year before and a significant surge from 1.7 percent in 2006.

According to a recent survey by online job information website Job Korea, 8 of 10 respondents said they did not have plans to take paternity leave. The No. 1 reason ― 53.1 percent ― was because of pressure from the company not to, followed by financial difficulties and concerns over being at a disadvantage for promotions or in job evaluations, respectively at 31.5 percent and 10.3 percent.

The OECD report also showed that Korea offered 52 weeks of total paid parental and home care leave for mothers, the eighth highest in OECD and above the average figure of 36.7.

But the duration of paid leave for childbirth in Korea was among the lowest in the OECD at 12 weeks; only the United States, Australia, Portugal, Sweden and Mexico offered less time. 

According to the report, Korea’s public expenditure on maternity and parental leaves was also the second lowest among OECD members, indicating that few people actually use the welfare system. Only Turkey, spending $242 per child, spent less while Luxembourg topped the list at $36,000 per child.

By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)