Poor work-life balance has been cited as a key reason for the country's record low 0.72 births per person in 2023.
Mr Jang Sang-ho's wife lost her job of 10 years at an architectural design firm after taking two years of maternity leave.
The company, known for its best-selling cleansing oil product, was named an exemplary employer for its work-family balance policies by the South Korean government in September. The South Korean authorities are now targeting small and medium-sized enterprises like Ma:nyo, which account for 83 per cent of employment in the country, to promote better work-life balance work cultures, in a bid to ease the declining birth rate.
The measures, starting in February 2025, include the doubling of paternal leave from 10 days to 20 days for fathers with newborn children. Parental leave benefits will also be raised to 2.5 million won per month from the current 1.5 million won, for the first three months after the birth of a child.
Ma:nyo designer Kim Sol-mi, 34, who has been with the company for seven years, did not think much about flexible work arrangements until after she became a mother around two years ago. The subsidy will be capped at 23.1 million won a year from next February, up from 18 million won currently. This freed up time for his wife to look for a new position. She has found a similar architectural design job, but with a slightly lower pay than the previous one.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
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