To select English subtitles, click on the Settings icon at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, click on the option labeled "subtitles/CC, and choose English.

Video Description

Type: KIHASA Policy Featurette

Topic: Women's Childbirth, Career Interruptions, and the M-shaped Employment Curve

Guest Speaker: Choi Sun-young, Associate Research Fellow, KIHASA

Transcript

Narration:

As of 2023, Korea’s total fertility rate stands at 0.72. This calls for changes to policies regarding women's employment and childbirth.

Choi:

You need stable employment to even begin thinking about starting a family. I know it’s difficult to generalize based on gender alone, but, whereas in the past only men’s employment was regarded as the main factor influencing people’s decisions about marriage and childbirth, nowadays women’s working conditions have also become a significant factor.

Narration:

The very existence of the expression “career-interrupted women” proves the negative impact that childbirth can have on women’s employment. A prime example is the so-called “M-shaped employment curve,” which describes how many married women leave the workforce to have and raise children, only to return later―often to irregular or part-time positions.