Issue Raising women's labour market participation in Korea

Summary

KEIS treats raising women's participation, still low relative to the OECD average, as an urgent way to cut labour losses and restore potential growth. It calls for stronger childcare support for work-family balance, a narrower wage gap, flexible work and more good-quality part-time jobs so that career breaks around childbirth and child-rearing are reduced and fertility can rise at the same time. Because women's educational attainment has risen sharply, the report also wants women steered into service industries and occupations where they are well represented and supported by women-friendly workplaces. It cites existing programmes such as the Saeil women's re-employment centres, which offer vocational training, counselling and job placement to limit career interruptions. Specific ideas include priority allocation of public childcare facilities and wider use of shared workplace daycare centres.