In the past, it was more common for men to go to work while women stayed home taking care of the children. Now, dual-income households form the majority among families with children.
According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s Statistics on the Lives of Men and Women 2025, released on Sept 2 to mark the 30th Gender Equality Week, 58.5 per cent of married households with children under 18 had both parents working in 2024. This represents an 11.3 percentage point increase from 2015.
Among households with children aged six or younger, the proportion of dual-income families rose even more dramatically, climbing 15.1 points to 53.2 per cent.
Marking the highest level since records began, this reflects not only the financial pressures of child-rearing but also a generational shift in gender roles and workplace participation.
A key factor underpinning this trend is the growing number of women in employment. The employment rate for women aged 15 to 64 reached 62.1 per cent in 2024, up 6.4 percentage points from 2015. During the same period, the rate climbed 0.9 percentage points for men, with 73.5 per cent of them in the workforce.
Among women in their early 30s – the age when career breaks for childbirth were most common – the employment rate soared to 73.5 per cent, an increase of nearly 14 percentage points. The proportion of married women classified as “career-interrupted” fell to 15.9 per cent, down from 21.7 per cent in 2015.
At the same time, more men are stepping into caregiving roles. In 2024, 42,000 men received parental leave benefits, the first time the figure has surpassed 40,000.
Men now account for nearly one-third of all parental leave recipients, compared with just 5.6 per cent a decade ago. The number of men taking shortened working hours for childcare has also jumped almost twentyfold over the past 10 years.
Economic, social pressures converge
Officials note that the rise in dual-income families comes despite the shrinking number of households with children.
In 2024, there were 3.94 million married households with children under 18, down 158,000 from the previous year.
But the number of dual-income households among them decreased by just 22,000, suggesting that as the total pool of families with children shrinks, a higher proportion of them are dual-income.
Demographers point to two intertwined forces at play: the economic strain of raising children in a high-cost society and the rapid decline in the number of children born.
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These factors have driven couples, particularly those in their 30s and 40s, to rely on two incomes. In 2024, dual-income rates were highest among couples in their 30s (61.5 per cent), followed by those in their 40s (59.2 per cent).
The data also points to steady, though gradual, progress in women’s representation at leadership levels.
Women accounted for 26.3 per cent of senior civil servants at grade four or higher in 2024, up 14.2 percentage points from 2015.
Among local government officials at grade five or higher, the figure reached 34.6 per cent, nearly triple the 11.6 per cent recorded a decade earlier.
Across all sectors, women made up 22.5 per cent of managers, with the proportion in public institutions climbing to 25.4 per cent, up nearly 10 percentage points in ten years.
Meanwhile, single-person households continued to grow rapidly, totaling 8.05 million in 2024, or 36.1 per cent of all households, a 1.5-fold increase from 2015.
Men in their 30s (21.8 per cent) and women in their 60s (18.7 per cent) accounted for the largest shares of one-person households, by gender.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said the statistics underscore shifting social dynamics that demand responsive policies.
“We will continue to closely examine social changes in areas such as family structure, career interruption, work-life balance and representation, and promote policies that bring meaningful improvements to people’s lives,” the ministry said. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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