남녀 고용률 결혼 전 후 격차 커져...기혼남녀 고용률 격차 28.5%p<br /><br />These days there's nothing unusual about women pursuing higher degrees and working side-by-side with men.<br />But the latest figures show that for many South Korean women who are married, it's a struggle to get in the work force and to stay in.<br />Seo Eunkyung explains. <br />In recent years, more and more Koreans have taken a positive view about women in being part of the work force.<br />The percentage of Koreans who think it's good for women to have jobs has increased to 87-point-2 percent last year, up 2.7 percentage points from 2013. <br />But despite that widespread point of view, married women appear to have a hard time landing and keeping jobs. <br />The employment rate among women is almost the same as that of men overall -- last year the gap was only 1.6 percentage points. But among married men and women, the gap surges to 28-point-5. <br />The main reasons women left the workforce were pregnancy, child-rearing and not enough support from their families.<br />And though the vast majority of Koreans say they think women should work, that attitude changes when it comes to their own wives.<br />As of 2016, less than half of married men wanted their wives to work. <br />Having children appears to make it harder for women to work too.<br />The participation of men in the job market is steady and appears unaffected by whether or not they have kids or how old the kids are.<br />Among women with teenagers, almost 70 percent of them have jobs, but among those with kids younger than 6, the rate is only 46-point-4 percent. <br />In fact, 35-point-6 percent of married women said they've quit working either to raise and educate their children, or to take care of their families.<br />Seo Eun-kyung, Arirang News. <br />
