More than half of Korean women have had their careers interrupted, survey finds

More than half of women in South Korea have experienced a career break due to childbirth, child-rearing or other reasons, a new government survey shows.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on Thursday released results of its "2025 Survey on Women's Economic Activity and Career Interruption," conducted from August to September last year among 8,177 women between the ages of 19 and 54. The survey is a state-approved statistical study carried out every three years under the Act on Promoting Women's Economic Activity and Preventing Career Interruption.

According to the survey, 56.7 percent of women in the 19-to-54 age group had experienced at least one career break.

The most commonly cited reason for career interruption was working conditions — including wages, workload and the expiration of employment contracts — at 53.4 percent. Marriage, pregnancy, childbirth and family caregiving accounted for 29.3 percent, while 17.3 percent of respondents said they had experienced both.

The survey expanded its age range to include women from age 19 — those who have graduated from high school — following a revision to the relevant law that broadened the scope to cover women's overall economic activity.

The ministry noted that direct comparisons with the 2022 survey are limited because the age range and questionnaire items differ.

However, the ministry said several trends stood out: the time needed to find re-employment after a career break has shortened, the share of part-time jobs has risen, and demand for flexible working arrangements has grown — a shift driven in part by the COVID-19 pandemic and the pressures of child-rearing.

The ministry also found that the share of women working at businesses with four or fewer employees declined, while the proportion at firms with 30 or more employees increased. The share employed in wholesale, retail, lodging and food services shrank, while the share in information and communications and technology services grew.

The average age at which women first experienced a career break was 29.8. For those who cited marriage or childbirth as the cause, the average time to re-employment was 7.5 years. For those whose break stemmed from working conditions, the average was 1.7 years. Both figures are lower than the 8.9-year average recorded in the previous survey three years ago.

When looking for a new job after a career break, the most important factor was a flexible working environment, cited by 30.5 percent of respondents. That was followed by income sufficient for current needs (26.2 percent), job stability (24.3 percent), commuting distance (13.4 percent), the ability to leave work on time (4.4 percent) and other factors (1.2 percent).

Among women in their first job after a career break, the share of full-time positions and average weekly working hours both declined, while the proportion of part-time jobs and average monthly real wages both rose. The part-time employment rate stood at 14.4 percent, up 3.1 percentage points from three years earlier.

Average weekly working hours fell to 42.7 hours, down 4.5 hours from three years ago, while average monthly real wages rose by 186,000 won to 2.7 million won ($1,790).

By company size, the share of women employed at businesses with 30 or more workers rose from 19.5 percent to 23.7 percent compared with three years ago, while the proportion working at micro-businesses with four or fewer employees declined.

By industry, the share employed in wholesale and retail trade and in lodging and food services fell, while the proportion moving into education services, professional, scientific and technology services, and information and communications expanded.

Younger women said they needed more targeted support during the career-planning stage. Women aged 19 to 34 most frequently identified access to diverse job and career information (33.0 percent) and career-planning counseling (30.4 percent) as the support they needed most. Those were followed by education programs to prepare for life-cycle changes (15.7 percent) and expanded opportunities for job experience or internships (15.1 percent).

A ministry official said vocational training and one-on-one counseling provided through women's re-employment centers appeared to be having an effect, and added that the ministry planned to expand career counseling — previously focused on women in their 30s and 40s — to all age groups, pursuing a range of policies to keep women from leaving the labor market.

Gender Equality and Family Minister Won Min-kyung said the ministry would strengthen tailored vocational training and proactive career management support, with the aim of broadening women's employment policy to encompass sustained career development and long-term economic participation.