The number of full-time housewives is decreasing as more and more elderly women join the workforce to help with household income, according to Statistics Korea on Monday.

The agency’s report on the breakdown of the country’s economically active population showed that the number of full-time housewives last year was 7.08 million, down 0.8 percent from the previous year.

Despite the number of stay-at-home housewives consistently increasing since 2000, the decreasing trend began in 2014 with a 2.1 percent drop.

The recent drop is attributed to the need to sustain livelihood by increasing household income, according to officials.

With rising home prices and low interest rates, women cannot help but work, they said. Among the housewives joining the labor force, elderly housewives in their 50s and 60s were among the highest age groups to start working.
(Graphic: Nam Kyung-don)