SEJONG -- The number of South Korean stay-at-home fathers reached an all-time high in March as fewer women took charge of bringing up kids, government data showed Monday.

A total of 13,000 South Korean men outside the labor force were in charge of child care last month, up 6,000 from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS).

It was the largest number since data tracking began in 1999. The on-year increase was also the biggest since March 2018.

The number of such men has been on the rise over the long term. In March 2011, the figure stood at 3,000 before climbing to 11,000 in January this year, 9,000 in February and 13,000 last month.

Those in their 30s and 40s accounted for 74.5 percent of stay-at-home dads. Men aged 60 and older took up nearly 18 percent.

In contrast, the number of South Korean stay-at-home mothers came to 1.112 million last month, down 93,000 from a year earlier. From 10 years earlier, last month's tally was down 373,000.

Amid a rise in the number of men in child care, more male workers in Asia's fourth-largest economy took paternity leave last year. According to data from the labor ministry, nearly 27,400 private-sector male workers took child care leave last year, up 23 percent from the previous year. (Yonhap)