This file photo shows a woman looking at a job recruitment bulletin board at an employment support center in western Seoul on Sept. 14, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – The new coronavirus pandemic has had a more negative impact on the employment of women than that of men in South Korea, data showed Friday.
The number of employed women stood at 11.58 million last month, down 2.4 percent from 11.87 million a year earlier, according to a report on female employment trends by the Korean Women’s Development Institute.
In the same period, the number of employed men slipped 0.7 percent on-year to 15.43 million.
The figures showed that the decline in employment was much sharper among working women than their male counterparts, indicating that the economic fallout from the pandemic has been more severe for the female workforce.
The data also showed that the rate of economic participation dropped more significantly among women.
In September, 52.7 percent of women were economically active, down 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier. The percentage of men who were economically active came in at 72.6 percent, dipping 0.7 percentage point in the same period.
“On top of enforcing employment policies in place, we need to think of ways to protect jobs for women in the in-person service industry (which is most affected by COVID-19), such as child care, and those vulnerable in the job market,” Kim Nan-joo, a researcher at the institute, said.
“(The government) will try its best to help women find new jobs in a more stable and structured manner. There is a public internship program for women having a career break, and an employment support system is set to start next year,” said Kim Kyung-sun, the vice minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
(Yonhap)
