Women's Progress in a Tough Job Market... Less Career Breaks and Improved Job Quality

[Financial News] Despite the recession in the job market, women are showing remarkable growth. Last year, the female employment rate was 62.1%, up 6.4 percentage points from 10 years ago, and the employment rate for women in their early 30s reached 73.5%, recording a noticeable upward trend.
 According to the '2025 Statistical Report on the Lives of Men and Women' released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on the 2nd, last year's employment rate for women aged 15-64 was 62.1%, and for men, it was 76.8%, an increase of 6.4 percentage points and 0.9 percentage points, respectively, compared to 2015. Compared to the slight increase in the male employment rate, the female employment rate is a remarkable achievement. In particular, the employment rate for women in their early 30s was 73.5%, an increase of 13.9 percentage points from 59.6% in 2015, attracting attention.
 Last year, the proportion of regular workers (employed for more than one year) among employed persons was 58.9% for men and 55.1% for women, an increase of 6.3 percentage points for men and 12.0 percentage points for women compared to 2015, indicating that the quality of women's jobs is also improving.
 The proportion of women experiencing career breaks is also gradually decreasing. Last year, the proportion of married women experiencing career breaks was 15.9%, a decrease of 5.8 percentage points from 21.7% in 2015.
 On the other hand, among the 133,000 recipients of parental leave benefits last year, 42,000 were men, surpassing 40,000 for the first time. The number of recipients of reduced working hours benefits during childcare was 27,000, an increase of 12.4 times for women and 19.2 times for men compared to 2015.
 In 2024, the proportion of dual-income households with children under 18 was 58.5%, an increase of 11.3 percentage points from 47.2% in 2015, and in particular, the proportion of dual-income households with children aged 6 or younger was 53.2%, an increase of 15.1 percentage points from 38.1% in 2015.
 Single-person households accounted for 8,045,000 households, representing 36.1% of general households. The largest proportion of male single-person households was in their 30s (21.8%), while for women it was in their 60s (18.7%).
 Single-parent households accounted for 1,491,000 households, representing 6.7% of general households, with the highest proportion of single mothers in their 30s (37.1%) and single fathers in their 40s (40.0%).
 Meanwhile, the proportion of women among national public officials at grade 4 or higher was 26.3%, an increase of 14.2 percentage points from 12.1% in 2015, and the proportion of women among general local public officials at grade 5 or higher was 34.6%, an increase of 23.0 percentage points from 11.6% in 2015.
 The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family stated, "We will carefully examine social phenomena closely related to our lives, such as family structure, career breaks, work-life balance, and representation, and discover and promote policies that can lead to substantial changes in the lives of the people."
aber@fnnews.com Park Ji-young Reporter