Men make up 1 in 3 parental leave takers as over 300,000 access benefits in 2025
Published: 28 Jan. 2026, 17:09
Updated: 28 Jan. 2026, 17:55
![Visitors at a fair for baby products try on child care items at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Jan. 15. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/28/a5cef3d8-7b80-428f-b691-c495a2fba34c.jpg)
Visitors at a fair for baby products try on child care items at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Jan. 15. [NEWS1]
Over one-third of all parental leave takers last year were men, with the number of people receiving benefits under Korea’s programs promoting work-family life balance surpassing 300,000 for the first time last year.
A total of 339,530 people accessed the programs in 2025, a 33.1 percent increase from 255,119 the previous year, according to data from the Korea Employment Information Service.
The programs are part of a range of policies designed to help workers balance employment and family responsibilities, including maternity and paternity leave, reduced working hours during child-rearing and miscarriage or stillbirth leave.
Parental leave usage in particular saw a sharp rise. A total of 184,519 workers took leave last year, up 39.1 percent from the year before.
The increase is believed to be partly driven by a government decision to raise the monthly cap on parental leave benefits from 1.5 million won ($1,050) to 2.5 million won.
Among the total, 67,196 were men — accounting for 36.4 percent of all parental leave takers — the highest share on record. That figure marked a 60.6 percent jump from the previous year.
![Visitors walk through a fair for baby products at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Jan. 15. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/28/a55219c5-40ff-42b9-8ba8-b3ccdd83c722.jpg)
Visitors walk through a fair for baby products at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Jan. 15. [YONHAP]
In 2015, only 4,872 men, or 5.6 percent of the total, took parental leave. In just 10 years, that number has grown nearly 14-fold.
Small- and medium-sized enterprises also saw a growing number of leave takers. In companies with fewer than 100 employees, 86,323 workers took parental leave last year — up 45.5 percent from the previous year.
However, significant disparities remain based on company size. While workers at firms with more than 1,000 employees made up 26.7 percent of all those who took leave, they represented 33.8 percent of men who did so — indicating that fathers still face barriers to taking parental leave in smaller businesses.
A clear divide also appeared along wage levels. Workers earning more than 3 million won per month accounted for 94,937 users of programs — over half of all benefit recipients.
“Policy changes like higher parental leave benefits and expanded support for small businesses are starting to show results,” said a Ministry of Labor and Employment official. “This year, the government plans to further strengthen work-family policies by introducing a ‘10 a.m. start’ program for parents with young children, as well as increasing subsidies for substitute workers and workload sharing.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM YEON-JOO [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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