Girls in Seoul who return to work after profession breaks for being pregnant, childbirth, or caregiving face a steep “motherhood penalty,” as they’re extra probably than males to begin new jobs with decrease pay and after an extended job search, a report confirmed Sunday.
Based on a report launched by the Seoul Basis of Girls & Household, 42.5 p.c of ladies who took a profession break and later discovered a brand new job noticed their wages fall in contrast with their earlier positions. In distinction, solely 25 p.c of males in the identical scenario reported incomes much less. The evaluation relies on a survey of two,754 employed Seoul residents aged 19 to 64.
The time it took to seek out employment was equally stark. Girls spent a median of 48.4 months securing a brand new job after a care-related break, greater than double the 20.4 months recorded for males. Researchers famous that these breaks end in long-term profession interruptions for ladies, cementing gender gaps in each pay and job stability.
A notable discovering within the report is the perceived enchancment in work-life steadiness.
Whereas 32.2 p.c of ladies mentioned their work-life steadiness improved of their new jobs — double the 15.4 p.c of males — the report warns that that is typically a “pressured trade-off” reasonably than a real enchancment. On account of an absence of social help for caregiving, many ladies go for roles with higher flexibility, even at the price of decrease wages and slower profession development.
Past the rapid challenges of re-entry, the information confirms persistent structural inequalities that permeate the labor market.
Girls’s common month-to-month wages stay considerably decrease at 2.87 million gained ($2,180), in comparison with the three.88 million gained earned by their male counterparts.
This wage hole is partly pushed by office measurement. Some 56.3 p.c of ladies are employed in smaller companies with fewer than 50 staff, whereas almost 54 p.c of males work in bigger, extra steady organizations.
Moreover, office tradition continues to penalize those that prioritize household, with 25.9 p.c of ladies reporting detrimental evaluations for utilizing parental depart or decreased hours — almost double the 14.8 p.c reported by males.
These financial penalties act as a strong deterrent in a rustic already grappling with the world’s lowest fertility price, which fell to a file low of 0.72 in 2023. The speed has proven slight indicators of a rebound however stays far under the alternative stage of two.1 wanted to keep up a steady inhabitants.
“The report confirms that many ladies nonetheless expertise profession breaks throughout childbirth and childrearing, and proceed to face difficulties discovering new jobs after they search re-employment,” the report concluded, urging metropolis insurance policies to be “redesigned to slim gender gaps and deal with structural inequality at its core.”
