August 18, 2025
The Korea Economic Daily recently featured Patricia Cortes, Professor of Markets, Public Policy, and Law, in an article examining how entrenched social norms that expect mothers to balance both work and childcare contribute to the gender wage gap and declining birth rates.
She emphasized the importance of well-designed parental leave policies, noting that true progress requires measures that actively encourage fathers’ participation rather than simply making leave available.
“Parental leave can increase the return rate of women for a certain period of time, but too long can lead to career break. There was no change (in the rate of participation in childcare leave) if men were simply given the option to take a leave on behalf of women, but if a certain period of time was set as a ‘male-only quota’, the participation rate of parental leave increased,” Cortes adds.
There is a need for cultural change and better-designed family policies to address both wage inequality and demographic challenges.