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17 percent of married Korean women suffer career break

Published: 21 Nov. 2023, 18:46

JIN MIN-JI
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People visit a job fair for women in the central city of Daejeon on Sept. 13, 2023. [YONHAP]

One out of six married Korean women has suffered a career break due to pregnancy and child-rearing, data showed Tuesday.

The number of married women aged 15-54 who had to stop working came to 1.35 million as of April, accounting for around 17 percent of the total 7.94 million married women in the age group, according to data from Statistics Korea.

This year's figure of women experiencing a career break fell 3.45 percent on-year, or 48,000, as the total female population of the age group fell by 159,000, the agency said.

Among the married women who quit their jobs, 42 percent cited child-rearing as the primary reason for their decision.

Some 26 percent said they stopped working after getting married, followed by 23 percent for pregnancy and childbirth, and 4 percent for the child's education.

By age, those in their 40s took up the largest share with 43.8 percent, followed by women in their 30s with 40.33 percent.

The number of working mothers with children aged under 18 came to 2.61 million in April, and their employment rate came to 60 percent.

The employment rate for the country's married women aged 15-54 reached 64.3 percent as of April, up from 62.6 percent the previous year, the data showed.

Yonhap