People walk down a street in Seoul’s financial district of Yeouido on Sept. 23, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul has the best work-life balance among metropolitan cities and provinces in South Korea, a survey showed Thursday.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor on Thursday unveiled the 2020 work-life balance index for the nation’s 17 metropolitan cities and provinces based on the results of a recent survey.
The nation’s overall work-life balance index averaged 53.4 points last year, up 2.9 points from a year ago (50.5 points).
By region, the capital city ranked first with 62 points, followed by Busan with 61.2, Jeju with 57.6, South Jeolla Province with 57.4 and Sejong with 55.9.
Gangwon ranked at the bottom with 47 points. North Gyeongsang Province (47.9), North Jeolla Province (48), Gwangju (48.5) and Incheon (49.7) ranked lower than average.
In the ‘work’ category, total monthly working hours declined from 182.8 to 163.4 and overtime working hours slid from 12.2 to 10, in part thanks to the government’s 52-hour workweek policy and the growth of flexible working hours and working from home resulting from the spread of the coronavirus.
In the ‘life’ category, the share of those who said housework should be shared equally between men and women increased from 58.7 percent to 62.1 percent.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
