Among all households surveyed, 40.3 percent had women quit their job to give birth and raise their children. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Jul. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Four out of ten women in households with children under the age of 6 have experienced career breaks in the process of giving birth and raising children, a survey showed.
Among all households surveyed, 40.3 percent had women quit their job to give birth and raise their children, a report by the Korea Institute for Child Care and Education showed Tuesday.
On the other hand, only 0.3 percent of men had given up their job.
The proportion of women who experienced career breaks due to childbirth and child rearing rose has risen steadily, from 24.6 percent in 2009 to 25.2 percent in 2012 and 32.3 percent in 2015.
The reason why women decided to quit their job was because they were not able to find suitable childcare, which accounted for 32.8 percent, while 31.2 percent said the value of children was greater than work.
When it comes to not having a place to leave their children for the day while at work, the answer was divided depending on where respondents resided.
Some 37.1 percent lived in small and medium-sized cities, 34.2 percent in rural areas and 28 percent in large cities.
The figures indicate that medium and small-sized cities have fewer daycare facilities than larger metropolitan areas.
When looking at the period of career breaks resulting from childbirth or child rearing, 66.2 percent of the respondents said their career was first interrupted when they were pregnant with their first child.
D. M. Park (dmpark@koreabizwire.com)
