Government comes up with measures to deal with low birth rate and promote work-family balance

Cradles are empty at a postnatal care center. Photo by Kyunghyang Shinmun

The government's "Measures to Reverse the Trend of Low Birth," announced on June 19, included an increase in parental leave benefits, improvement of convenience, such as "short-term parental leave of about two weeks," and expansion of support for small and medium-sized enterprises. Although the existing parental and maternity leave system has been greatly strengthened, it is unclear whether it will be able to change the labor environment that makes it difficult to use the system. It is also a challenge to seek cooperation of the National Assembly, as most of the major changes require amendments to the law.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor's plan to promote work-family balance, the government's main goals are to "preserve income during parental leave," "improve the application process," "secure options to choose childcare time," and "ease the burden on small and medium-sized enterprises.”

The government plans to raise the monthly allowance for parental leave, which is currently 1.5 million won per month, to an average of 1.95 million won per month. It will also allow parents to receive up to 2.5 million won per month for the first three months of leave, and abolish the "post-payment" system, which pays 25 percent of the parental leave allowance six months after returning to work, and gives full pay during the leave of absence.

The government also plans to extend the period of maternity leave for spouses from the current 10 days to 20 days. The filing deadline will be increased from 90 days to 120 days, and the period can be divided into three from the current one. The salary support for small and medium-sized companies, which was limited to five days when using maternity leave for spouses, will also be expanded to the entire period of 20 days.

To make it easier for workers to take parental leave after taking maternity leave, the government will introduce an “integrated application for maternity and parental leave.” It will also introduce a "written expression of intention to allow parental leave" that automatically allows parental leave to be approved if the employer does not respond for a certain period of time when a worker applies for parental leave.

To expand the options of parental leave, the system will be reorganized to allow for “short-term parental leave” of two weeks or less. The number of installments of parental leave will be increased to three from the current two, allowing parents to take the leave a total of four times.

The minimum period for shortening working hours during the parenting period will be eased from three months to one month. The government will also institutionalize the free use of a half-day off and flexible work program and establish a attendance management system for small and medium-sized enterprises. To support small and medium-sized enterprises, the support fund for substitute workers, which is currently paid only for those on maternity leave and working shorter hours, will also be provided to those on parental leave, and the amount will be raised to 1.2 million won per month. The fund will also be provided to dispatched workers. Starting in July, a new 'coworker support fund of 200,000 won per month will be provided to coworkers who take on the duties of a worker working shorter time during their child-rearing period.

In addition, the number of foreign housekeepers will be increased to 1,200 in the first half of next year, and plans are underway to allow spouses of migrant workers and international students to work as housekeepers and caregivers.

However, the plan to introduce parental leave for platform, special employment, and freelance workers was left out of the measures. An official from the Ministry of Labor said in a briefing, "We are in the stage of creating a system," adding, "The Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy will hold discussions with related ministries and is studying (related measures)."

The government plans to immediately revise matters subject to the enforcement decree, such as increasing parental leave income, integrated application of maternity leave and parental leave, and written expression of intention to allow parental leave. After the revision of the enforcement ordinance, it is expected to be implemented as early as early next year.

The labor community pointed out that measures without improving working conditions and job insecurity are ineffective.

"The government is blaming job insecurity, low wages, and irregular work as the cause of the problem, but it has not come up with any fundamental measures to create quality jobs," said the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. "Even if a support system is created, it will not be feasible unless fundamental improvements in the working environment and the rights of workers are made.”

It also added, "The problem is that the government is trying to solve the issues of work-family balance and caregiving with bad jobs and discrimination. In particular, the government’s plan to expand alternative supply by utilizing foreign workers conflicts with its own plan to respond to the structural factors of low birth rate by creating 'good jobs'.“

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.