Approval rating for paternity leave reaches 81.4%, yet only 46.4% would actually encourage a male colleague to use it

Concerns over staffing gaps and added workloads keep workplace acceptance low

Gender stereotypes and shortage of replacement workers cited as key barriers

A father on parental leave [Getty Images Bank]
A father on parental leave [Getty Images Bank]

Broad social support for paternity leave has grown significantly in South Korea, yet workplaces still make it difficult for men to actually take time off, a new study shows. Concerns about staffing gaps and heavier workloads for remaining colleagues remain deeply embedded in organizational culture.

A report released Wednesday by the Korea Institute of Public Finance, titled "Research on Promoting Male Parental Leave: Focusing on Internal Acceptance in Public Institutions and Private Companies," found that 81.4% of respondents support men taking parental leave. Yet only 46.4% said they would actually encourage a male colleague to use it.

The survey was conducted in September last year and covered 900 full-time workers at public institutions and private companies nationwide.

Respondents viewed paternity leave positively in the abstract, but said they felt burdened by the prospect of covering a colleague's workload and filling the resulting staffing gap. "A significant gap exists between general support for parental leave and actual acceptance within organizations," the researchers concluded.

The duration of leave respondents would recommend for male colleagues was also notably short. Some 30.2% said they would encourage a male colleague to take three months or less — a higher share than the 17.9% who gave the same answer for female colleagues, suggesting that psychological barriers to longer paternity leave still persist.

The study also found a gap in attitudes between public institutions and private companies. Workers at public institutions were relatively more supportive of men taking parental leave, while those at private companies showed more conservative views. The researchers attributed the difference to variations in organizational size and staffing flexibility.

The researchers identified two key factors shaping workplace acceptance of paternity leave: a sense of social responsibility around addressing the low birth rate, and attitudes toward gender roles. The stronger the belief that men's involvement in childcare is necessary to tackle the low birth rate, the higher the level of support for paternity leave.

Conversely, the harder respondents believed it would be to fill a departmental vacancy, the less willing they were to support or encourage paternity leave. The study also found that stronger adherence to the traditional view that childcare is a woman's role was associated with more negative attitudes toward men taking leave.

The researchers recommended that efforts to promote paternity leave go beyond expanding the legal regime to improving workplace culture. Simply reforming laws and systems is not enough, they said — companies need stronger support systems for replacement workers and greater incentives to foster family-friendly cultures. "Increased workloads and fears of staffing gaps are the core factors blocking men from taking parental leave," the report stated. "Systematic support to cover for employees on leave must go hand in hand with organizational culture reform that breaks down gender-role stereotypes."


fact0514@heraldcorp.com