A stock photo of a father with a baby (Getty Images Bank)
A stock photo of a father with a baby (Getty Images Bank)

More than half of eligible government workers took parental leave last year, but only 39.2 percent of men opted to use it, state data showed Thursday.

There were 73,674 male government workers who could have taken parental leave in 2024, but just 28,850 (39.2 percent) who did, according to a report from Rep. Kim Ui-sang of the main opposition People Power Party. The report was based on data from the Ministry of Personnel Management.

Under the State Public Officials Act, government workers can take parental leave for caring for children aged 12 or younger. They can take up to three years per child, and the entire time off taken for parental leave is considered a work period, so they are not penalized for the career gap in promotion considerations.

During parental leave, employees receive up to 80 percent of their salary. As of this year, the monthly cap on this payment has increased from 1.5 million won to 2.5 million won ($1,080 to $1,800). Of this amount, 25 percent is withheld to be paid upon the employee's return to work.

The percentage of male civil servants taking paternity leave has been rising in recent years, from 22.1 percent in 2020 to 24.9 percent in 2021, 29.8 percent in 2022 and 34.1 percent in 2023.

In comparison, 96.2 percent of eligible female government workers took maternal leave.

Overall, 104,937 government workers were eligible for parental leave in 2024, and 58,921 (56.1 percent) took it. The annual figure rose each year from 44.8 percent in 2020 to 45 percent in 2021, 48.8 percent in 2022 and 52.2 percent in 2023.

Among bodies of the central government, the Rural Development Administration had the lowest percentage of usage rate for paternity leave at 24.6 percent. It was followed by the Prime Minister's Secretariat (26.7 percent), the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (30.8 percent), the Ministry of Science and ICT (32.3 percent) and the National Police Agency (32.6 percent).


minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com