Prospective parents browse the baby products on display at the ‘Momsholic Baby Fair 2024′ at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in January this year. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEJONG, Mar. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – In South Korea’s rapidly aging society, where the government has been scrambling to encourage childbirth through expanded parental leave benefits, a significant segment of the workforce finds itself left out: the self-employed.
Park Chang-hyun, 34, works as a delivery rider in Gwangju. When he recently inquired about parental leave allowances to help care for his 1- and 3-year-old children, he was informed that he did not qualify.
“If one of my kids gets sick and has to be hospitalized, I can’t work that entire day and won’t earn a single won,” said Park, explaining that any unpaid leave would severely strain his limited savings. “It’s a huge burden.”
His predicament underscores the stark reality facing South Korea’s growing ranks of self-employed workers when it comes to raising children. While salaried employees can take up to a year of parental leave with the government covering 80 percent of their ordinary wages, the 6.6 million South Koreans running their own businesses have no such safety net.
Woo Dong-myung, 38, an insurance salesman classified as a “special employment” worker, faces similar challenges. His company offers unpaid parental leave, but taking it would mean forgoing all income during that period and potentially facing penalties for not meeting sales targets.
“I’ve never seen a single male colleague take parental leave,” said Woo. “It’s realistically meaningless since your income would be completely cut off.”
While salaried employees can take up to a year of parental leave with the government covering 80 percent of their ordinary wages, the 6.6 million South Koreans running their own businesses have no such safety net. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
For small business owners like Jeong Yun-jeong, 41, who runs a clothing store in Seoul while raising 2-year-old twins, even the basic childbirth allowance offered to those without employment insurance is out of reach because she has an employee.
“My business isn’t doing well, but to take care of the kids while working, I had no choice but to hire someone,” said Jeong, expressing frustration at the lack of support. “I can’t properly do either work or parenting.”
Beyond the absence of paid parental leave, the self-employed often struggle to find affordable childcare that aligns with their irregular working hours, which frequently include evenings, nights and weekends when daycare centers are closed.
“I have to keep the store open in the evenings, but hiring a live-in nanny is too expensive and night sitters are hard to find, especially with twins,” Jeong lamented.
The burden then frequently falls on the self-employed worker’s spouse, amplifying the stress of childrearing.
“Since selling insurance involves meeting people, I often don’t get home until late at night, leaving most of the childcare to my wife,” Woo said.
For some, the lack of state support for self-employed parents reflects an underlying bias that their economic activities are seen as a personal matter rather than a vital part of the workforce.
“Whenever I see news about expanding parental leave benefits to tackle low birthrates, it feels like they’re talking about a different country,” said Lee Ho-jun, 43, who has run a convenience store in Bucheon for 18 years. “They seem to think self-employment is an area of self-reliance.”
Countries like France and Germany have tailored parental support systems that account for the unique challenges of self-employment, allowing for partial work during leave periods. But in South Korea, despite constituting over a quarter of the labor force, the self-employed remain largely excluded from such family-friendly policies.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
