[비즈한국] #1. Manager A, in his mid-40s working for a large retail conglomerate, seriously considered parental leave after hearing that his four-year-old daughter was struggling to adapt to daycare. His wife had already exhausted her leave, and he was wary of the situation as he was up for a promotion and his team was busy with projects. In the end, his strategy was to propose it alongside a "resignation." When he told his company, "I would like to take parental leave, but I feel like I'm inconveniencing the company, so I'll just resign instead," the company responded, "Why don't you take six months off first and then we'll talk," effectively granting him the leave. Thanks to this, Manager A returned after six months. However, he couldn't help but feel self-conscious for a while, despite his gratitude toward the company.
2. Mr. B, in his late 30s, recently moved to a foreign-owned company. As a father to a 3-year-old son, he is treading carefully at his new job. His wife's one-year parental leave is ending soon, and without support from parents, they have to send their toddler to daycare for the full day. The company has a conservative culture, and he was even told that he "should leave at 6:30 PM even if there is no work." He could apply for parental leave, but he is deeply conflicted because he feels it would be inappropriate to apply less than six months into his new job.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the proportion of men among those taking parental leave is rising. Last year, 41,829 men took parental leave, accounting for 31.6% of the total. This means one in every three applicants is male.
Considering that male parental leave takers accounted for 28% of the total in 2023 with 35,336 individuals, this is an increase of more than 3 percentage points. Furthermore, compared to 2015, when the number of men on parental leave was 4,872 (5.6%), it has increased nearly ninefold in nine years. The upward trend continues this year. Since January 1 of this year, the number of men on parental leave has surged by 69.2% compared to the same period last year, outpacing the 42.6% growth rate for total parental leave takers.
However, "concerns" persist. These include fears that applying for leave could lead to disadvantages in future performance reviews, promotions, department assignments, and workplace relationships. Mr. C, 39, who works for a public financial institution, confessed, "When my wife's leave ended, our child was about 13 months old and had just started walking, so I felt guilty leaving them at daycare for eight hours a day. I thought about applying for three to six months of leave, but I gave up because everyone is worried about future promotions. Also, the parental leave benefit is less than half of my monthly salary, so I decided to get help from our parents instead, taking living expenses into account."
In fact, the report "The Gap and Discrimination in Male Workers' Use of Parental Leave" by the Democratic Labor Research Institute found that the most common reason cited by male respondents for the low usage rate of parental leave was "concern about receiving professional disadvantages in performance reviews and promotions (85%, multiple responses allowed)." Manager A, mentioned earlier, also admitted, "I didn't expect a good performance review for my first year back, and naturally, I received the lowest rating in my team. I had already accepted the disadvantage, knowing that my promotion would likely be delayed by a year or two."
Everyone shares the same underlying worry: the structure is such that the competition to survive in the company becomes fiercer as the child grows. Mr. D, 40, who works at a top-tier IT company, said, "My child is about to enter elementary school, and I find myself wondering if I can stay in this company for another 10 years, which naturally makes me more sensitive to the office atmosphere. My wife is a stay-at-home mom, so I don't need to consider taking parental leave, but it is true that because I am the sole breadwinner, I have even more reasons to survive in the company."