This file photo shows people visiting a job fair for women in the central city of Daejeon on Sept. 13, 2023. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — One out of every 6 South Korean married women suffered a career break during the first half of the year due mainly to pregnancy and child-rearing, data showed Tuesday.
The number of married women aged 15-54 who stopped working during the January-June period came to 1.34 million, according to the data from Statistics Korea.
The number of all women in the age bracket came to 7.94 million, and of them, 35.76 percent, or 2.84 million people, were not economically active during the cited period, the agency said.
This year’s figure of women experiencing a career break fell 3.45 percent on-year, or 48,000, as the total female population of the age group has fallen by 159,000, the agency said.
Among the married women who quit their jobs, the largest proportion of 42 percent cited child-rearing as the primary reason for their decision.
Some 26 percent said they stopped working due to getting married, followed by 23 percent for pregnancy and childbirths, and 4 percent for child education.
South Korea has been struggling with a chronic decline in childbirths as a growing number of young people have opted to distance themselves from marriage and having children.
(Yonhap)
