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'''Gender inequality in South Korea''' refers to the unequal opportunities and treatment men and women face in [[South Korea]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Parziale|first=Amy|title=Gender Inequality and Discrimination|date=2008|url=http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/ethics/n365.xml|work=Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society|pages=978–981|publisher=SAGE Publications, Inc.|doi=10.4135/9781412956260.n365|access-date=2018-10-17}}</ref> While gender inequality has improved in the health and education sectors, it remains especially apparent in South Korea's economy and politics.<ref name=":3" />
'''Gender inequality in South Korea''' refers to the unequal opportunities and treatment men and women face in [[South Korea]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Parziale|first=Amy|title=Gender Inequality and Discrimination|date=2008|url=http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/ethics/n365.xml|work=Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society|pages=978–981|publisher=SAGE Publications, Inc.|doi=10.4135/9781412956260.n365|access-date=2018-10-17}}</ref> While gender inequality has improved in health and education sectors, it remains especially prevalent in South Korea's economy and politics.<ref name=":3" />


==Gender Statistics==
==Gender Statistics==

Revision as of 00:38, 18 October 2018

Gender inequality in South Korea refers to the unequal opportunities and treatment men and women face in South Korea.[1] While gender inequality has improved in health and education sectors, it remains especially prevalent in South Korea's economy and politics.[2]

Gender Statistics

Due to the various methods of calculating and measuring gender inequality, South Korea's gender inequality rankings vary. While the 2017 UNDP Gender Inequality Index ranks South Korea 10th out of 160 countries, the World Economic Forum ranks South Korea 118th out of 144 countries in its 2017 Global Gender Gap Report.[3][2] Branisa et al. explain that indices like the Global Gender Gap Index tend to be "outcome-focused", which means they focus on gender inequalities in agency and in well-being.[4] Indices like the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) focus on the origins of gender inequalities, such as laws and norms.[4] South Korea is one of three OECD countries that did not receive a perfect SIGI score.[4] While the SIGI did not give South Korea an overall ranking, the country was reported to have very low levels of discriminatory family code, low levels of restricted civil liberties, and medium levels of restricted resources and assets.[5]

In 2010, 93% of South Koreans surveyed believed women should have equal rights to men, and among them, 71% believe more changes are needed before that goal is achieved.[6]

South Korea's Subindices Rankings in the 2017 Global Gender Gap Report[2]
Subindex Rank

(out of 144 countries)

Score

(0 = imparity, 1 = parity)

Average Score
Economic Participation and Opportunity 121 0.533 0.585
Educational Attainment 105 0.960 0.953
Health and Survival 84 0.973 0.956
Political Empowerment 90 0.134 0.227

The 2017 report notes that all subindices (health and survival, education, economic participation and equality, and political empowerment) show improvement compared to 2006 (the date of the first publication of this yearly report).[2] In comparison to other countries, South Korea scores highest on Health and Survival (84th), then Political Empowerment (90th), then Educational Attainment (105th), and ranks the lowest on Economic Participation and Equality (121st).[2]

South Korea's Female to Male Ratios in the 2017 Global Gender Gap Report[2]
Indicators South Korea's Female to Male Ratio Average Female to Male Ratio
Labor force participation 0.73 0.6637
Wage equality for similar work 0.51 0.634
Estimated earned income 0.45 0.509
Legislators, senior officials and managers 0.12 0.320
Enrollment in tertiary education 0.77 0.938
Women in parliament 0.20 0.205
Women in ministerial positions 0.10 0.100
Years with female head of state (last 50) 0.10 0.104

History

Military Sexual Slavery

During World War II, thousands of young Korean women, known as "comfort women", were forced into military sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army.[7] Since their establishment in 1955, US camptowns have "enlisted over one million South Korean women into military prostitution."[7] According to Han and Chu, "military establishments have depended upon and justified the systematic discrimination of women by 'promoting gendered notions of femininity and masculinity, weakness and strength, conquered and conqueror.'"[7]

Legislation

After the democratization of Korea, the number of feminist movements greatly increased.[8][9] The Korean government began to address gender equality issues in the late 20th century with the following legislative acts[10][11][8][12]:

  • Sexual Equality Employment Act (1987)
  • Act on Equal Employment and Reconciliation of Work and Family (1989)
  • Mother-Child Welfare Act (1991)
  • Punishment of Sexual Violence and Protection of the Victim Act (1993)
  • Women’s Development Act (1995)
  • Prevention of Domestic Violence and Protection of the Victim Act (1997)

In 2005, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family was established and the patrilineal family register (hoju) was abolished.[8][7] While gender equality in policymaking and governance has improved over the last few decades, gender equality in the division of labor and labor markets has remained stagnant.[13][7]

The Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 resulted in lower women participation in the workforce.[14]

Culture

Reasons for gender inequality in South Korea include traditions and cultural practices in home and at workplaces, and insufficient support systems.[13] Korean patriarchal order (which includes patrilineality) is a major factor influencing this phenomenon.[11] Confucian family values support traditional sex roles,[15] with men expected to do "male-type" work and women expected to do "women-type" work.[16]

Professional Inequality

Wage Gap

In 2017, the OECD placed Korea in the last position of all OECD countries for gender pay gap, a position that has not improved since the OECD first published this ranking in 2000.[17][18] The gender pay gap in Korea is 34.6%, while the OECD average is 13.1%.[19] The gap has improved by 7% since 2000, though the rate of improvement has been slower than in other OECD countries.[18] The Korean gender pay gap has been called "the worst... among the industrialized countries."[20] Korea also ranked the lowest on the glass-ceiling index published by The Economist in 2014.[21] The glass-ceiling index was determined by the country's performance on nine indicators such as wage gap, labor force participation, representation in senior jobs, paid maternity leave, etc.[21]

Employment

Employment and tertiary education opportunities for women in South Korea have steadily increased in the past few decades. In the pre-Korean War period the employment of women in Korea had been less than 30%.[22] The OECD estimates female employment rate to be around 53% and has been consistently below the average for all OECD countries.[23] Potentially, these advances have often been impeded by cultural values and economic developments. In addition to having a large gendered wage gap, men in South Korea in general have longer working hours than other developed countries.[24] This situation adds to the cultural idea of men being the financial supplier for families and is supplemented by the cultural norm of high parental involvement in children's education and rearing. Female market labour with respect to age shows an M-shaped figure when many women who worked after graduating from tertiary education fall out of the workforce at the age when they raise children.[25][26]

Women are less likely to be promoted to higher managerial positions in the workplace, and working females receive relatively little support for child rearing. For example, taking paternity leave is highly unpopular and unofficially discouraged within Korean companies (even more so for men), which forces women out of the workplace following the birth of a child.[13][27][20]

Public funding for maternal and paternal leaves as well as the development of childcare programs have slowly gained ground in South Korea where childcare and its relevant economic sector had predominately been private.[14]

Household Inequality

Since males are expected to be the major breadwinners in families, there is a strong cultural tendency to define females' roles as that of a wife, mother, and housekeeper.[11][27][13] In 1998, a Korean Women's Development Institute survey found that majority of South Korean women did all of the housework in their homes.[16]

Some of the effects of household inequality are that Korean women are marrying later and having fewer children.[15] A 2007 report by Center for Strategic and International Studies notes these trends are "in many ways the worst of both worlds. Korea now has a lower fertility rate than any developed country and one of the lowest rates of female labor-force participation — 60% for women aged 25 to 54 versus 75% in the USA and 76% in the EU."[15] The percentage of Korean women who say it is “necessary” to have children declined from 90% in 1991 to 58% in 2000.[15] In 1970, the average age of first marriage for females was 23; by 2005 it was almost 28.[15] The report suggests that traditional Korean family and workplace cultures need to change to prevent serious economic and societal problems due to extremely low fertility rates.[15]

Special Opportunity Inequality

The level of tertiary education for women has similarly risen throughout the 20th century through the modern era but has been comparably lower than a number of developed countries, particularly those that have a higher proportion of educated women than men.[28] Primary and Secondary education levels have generally been equal throughout the latter half of the 20th century, but the prevalence of a male-dominated working force and the stringent parental supervision of children's education made even those who did pursue tertiary education see further education as a tool for training children rather than pursuing a career.[22] According to the OECD women in 2014 have achieved 62.6% tertiary education compared to the OECD average of 78.9% [29]

Within primary and secondary education, greater female participation in STEM fields is being promoted.[30] Tertiary institutions are being pushed to admit more women.[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Parziale, Amy (2008), "Gender Inequality and Discrimination", Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society, SAGE Publications, Inc., pp. 978–981, doi:10.4135/9781412956260.n365, retrieved 2018-10-17
  2. ^ a b c d e f World Economic Forum. "The Global Gender Gap Report 2017" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  3. ^ "| Human Development Reports". hdr.undp.org. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  4. ^ a b c Branisa, Boris; Klasen, Stephan; Ziegler, Maria; Drechsler, Denis; Jütting, Johannes (2013-12-11). "The Institutional Basis of Gender Inequality: The Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI)". Feminist Economics. 20 (2): 29–64. doi:10.1080/13545701.2013.850523. ISSN 1354-5701.
  5. ^ "Korea |". www.genderindex.org. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  6. ^ "Gender Equality Universally Embraced, But Inequalities Acknowledged | Pew Research Center". Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  7. ^ a b c d e Han, Ju Hui Judy; Chun, Jennifer Jihye (2014). "Introduction: Gender and Politics in Contemporary Korea". The Journal of Korean Studies (1979-). 19 (2): 245–255.
  8. ^ a b c Laura C. Nelson; Cho Haejoang (29 January 2016). "Women, gender and social change". In Michael J Seth (ed.). Routledge Handbook of Modern Korean History. Routledge. p. 335. ISBN 978-1-317-81149-7.
  9. ^ Woojin Chung; Monica Das Gupta (2007). Why is Son Preference Declining in South Korea?. World Bank Publications. pp. 13–. GGKEY:P8TJK7JKF2Z.
  10. ^ UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. "Concluding comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Republic of Korea" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  11. ^ a b c Cho, Uhn (2013). Contemporary South Korean Society: A Critical Perspective. Routledge. pp. 18–27. ISBN 9780415691390. OCLC 741542008.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  12. ^ "Korea, Republic of - Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work-Family Reconciliation (Act No. 3989)". www.ilo.org. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  13. ^ a b c d "Gender Gap Index Rankings 2013 – South Korea – The Asian Philanthropy Advisory Network". 2014-10-09. Archived from the original on October 9, 2014. Retrieved 2016-06-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ a b Lee, Joohee (2017). Women, work and care in the Asia-Pacific. New York: Routledge. p. 214. ISBN 9781315652467.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Neil Howe, Richard Jackson, Keisuke Nakashima, Hyejin Kwon and Jeehoon Park. THE AGING OF KOREA. Demographics and Retirement Policyin the Land of the Morning Calm. Center for Strategic and International Studies. March 2007. Pages 37–38
  16. ^ a b Kim, Hee-Kang (2009). "ANALYZING THE GENDER DIVISION OF LABOR: THE CASES OF THE UNITED STATES AND SOUTH KOREA". Asian Perspective. 33 (2): 181–229.
  17. ^ OECD (2017-10-04). "The Pursuit of Gender Equality". doi:10.1787/9789264281318-en. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  18. ^ a b "Since 2000, S. Korea number one in OECD for gender pay inequality". www.hani.co.kr. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  19. ^ "Earnings and wages - Gender wage gap - OECD Data". theOECD. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  20. ^ a b "S. Korea reflects lag in gender equality: Column". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  21. ^ a b "The glass-ceiling index". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  22. ^ a b Routledge handbook of modern Korean history. Seth, Michael J., 1948-. London. ISBN 9781315816722. OCLC 883647567.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  23. ^ OECD Family database. (http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/LMF_1_6_Gender_differences_in_employ ment_outcomes.xlsx) For Korea KOSIS (Korean statistical database) 2009 all women aged 15 and above
  24. ^ Craig, Lyn (2017). Is It Just Too Hard? Gender Time Symmetry in Market and Nonmarket Work and Subjective Time Pressure in Australia, Finland, and Korea. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 465–494. ISBN 978-1-137-56837-3.
  25. ^ Women's working lives in East Asia. Brinton, Mary C. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. 2001. ISBN 9780804743549. OCLC 45908958.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  26. ^ "IMF Survey : Nordic Lessons to Raise Female Labor Participation in NE Asia". IMF. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
  27. ^ a b "A Long Way To Go For Gender Equality In South Korea". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  28. ^ Gender and time use in a global context : the economics of employment and unpaid labor. Connelly, Rachel, Kongar, Mesude Ebru,. New York, NY, U.S.A. ISBN 9781137568373. OCLC 993581679.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  29. ^ OECD. Education at a Glance, Statistics /Education at a Glance /2017:OECD Indicators. doi:10.1787/eag-2017-en.
  30. ^ a b "OECD Reviews of Tertiary Education, Books /OECD Reviews of Tertiary Education /OECD Reviews of Tertiary Education: Korea 2009" (PDF). www.oecd-ilibrary.org. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
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