Fathers taking parental leave hits record high, making up 4 in 10 recipients

The number of fathers taking parental leave to care for their children has surged. Last year, men accounted for 36.5 percent of parental leave benefit recipients — a record high and more than six times the share recorded a decade ago.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family released "2026 Statistics on the Lives of Men and Women" on Thursday to mark the 31st Gender Equality Week.

The report drew on data published by government ministries to analyze 48 indicators across nine areas, including population and households, the labor market, work-life balance and decision-making.

According to the ministry, 184,329 people received parental leave benefits last year — more than double the figure from 2015. Men made up 36.5 percent of recipients, the highest share on record.

That compares with a male share of just 5.6 percent in 2015, representing a more than sixfold increase.

The number of workers receiving benefits for reduced working hours during child-rearing also rose sharply last year, reaching 39,400 — a 48.0 percent increase from the previous year.

Female recipients grew 47.6 percent, from 23,357 in 2024 to 34,465 last year, while male recipients rose 50.9 percent, from 3,270 to 4,935 over the same period.

Among workers using flexible work arrangements, 13.9 percent were women and 18.5 percent were men. Women most commonly used staggered commuting hours, at 34.4 percent, while men most often used flexible scheduling, at 33.7 percent.

The share of single-person households has continued to grow, as in previous years. Men in their 30s and women in their 60s made up the largest segments.

Last year, single-person households numbered about 8.244 million, accounting for 36.6 percent of all general households — a 58.4 percent increase from about 5.203 million a decade earlier. Among single-person households, men in their 30s made up the largest age group at 21.8 percent, while women in their 60s led at 18.6 percent.

The number of elderly single-person households aged 65 and older increased year on year for both men and women.

Last year, there were about 1.655 million elderly women living alone, compared with 801,000 elderly men.

First marriages last year totaled 198,603, up about 20,000 from the previous year.

Among first-marriage couples, the husband was older in 63 percent of cases — the most common arrangement — while the wife was older in 20.2 percent and the couple was the same age in 16.7 percent.

The employment rate for women in their 20s and 30s stood at 68.2 percent last year, compared with 74.5 percent for men in the same age group.

Among married women aged 15 to 54, 14.9 percent had experienced a career break due to childbirth, child-rearing or similar reasons — down 1.0 percentage point from the previous year.

The report also included, for the first time, data on solitary deaths broken down by age and sex. In 2024, 3,205 men and 605 women died alone in isolation.

Both men and women in their 50s and 60s accounted for the largest share of such deaths. Among men, 1,028 died in solitary circumstances in their 50s and 1,089 in their 60s, representing 32.1 percent and 34 percent of all male solitary deaths, respectively.

Minister of Gender Equality and Family Won Min-kyung said the ministry would "do its utmost to carefully examine policy needs and conditions so that it can pursue policies that benefit both men and women."