View of Seoul City Hall (Image provided by the Seoul Metropolitan Government)
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The Seoul Metropolitan Council is taking a landmark step toward acknowledging the economic and social value of unpaid labor traditionally carried out by women.
Council Chair Choi Ho-jung announced Tuesday the introduction of an ordinance that would allow women who have spent years in household management or caregiving roles to have that experience officially recognized as part of their career history.
The proposal—formally titled the Ordinance on Recognition and Promotion of Rights for Women with Career Experience in Domestic and Care Work—aims to reshape how society and government measure women’s contributions to the workforce.
Under the bill, the Seoul mayor could issue an official “career certificate” verifying periods of domestic and caregiving labor as recognized professional experience.
The city would also be empowered to offer counseling, training, and entrepreneurship support to women re-entering the workforce, while maintaining a database to connect them with employment and business opportunities.
An advisory committee would oversee these efforts and publish annual implementation plans for promoting women’s economic rights.
Choi described the measure as a necessary correction to long-standing gender inequities. “Without institutional recognition of invisible labor like household and caregiving work, it’s impossible to build a truly gender-equal or sustainable society,” she said.
“Through this ordinance, we hope to transform social perceptions and systematically support women returning to economic activity.”
The move aligns with a broader national reckoning over how unpaid domestic work—long excluded from economic metrics—shapes gender inequality and limits women’s career mobility in South Korea’s labor market.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
