Abstract
Korea is facing problems, such as inequality within society and an aging population, that places a burden on public health expenditure. The active adoption of policies that promote work-family balance (WFB), such as parental leave and workplace childcare centers, is known to help solve these problems. However, there has, as yet, been little quantitative evidence accumulated to support this notion. This study used the choice experiment methodology on 373 Koreans in their twenties and thirties, to estimate the level of utility derived from work-family balance policies. The results show that willingness to pay for parental leave was found to be valued at 7.81 million Korean won, while it was 4.83 million won for workplace childcare centers. In particular, WFB policies were found to benefit workers of lower socioeconomic status or belonging to disadvantaged groups, such as women, those with low education levels, and those with low incomes. Furthermore, the utility derived from WFB policies was found to be greater among those who desire children compared to those who do not. The results suggest that the proactive introduction of WFB policies will help solve problems such as inequality within society and population aging.
Highlights
The Republic of Korea ( “Korea”) is currently facing various challenges in terms of sustainable growth
The results suggest that the proactive introduction of work-family balance (WFB) policies will help solve problems such as inequality within society and population aging
Among various WFB polices, this study focuses on the availability of parental leave and a workplace childcare center in order to observe the effects of these WFB policies
Summary
The Republic of Korea ( “Korea”) is currently facing various challenges in terms of sustainable growth Among these challenges, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) [1,2] has pointed to Korea’s rapid pace of population aging and the inequality occurring within its society as major concerns. 1.2 by 2062, which is the lowest among OECD economies [3] This rapid pace of population aging is attributable to Korea’s high average life expectancy and extremely low fertility rate. As of 2018, the total fertility rate is expected to equal only 0.96 [4] This is a very low figure compared to the average for OECD nations, which was 1.7 as of 2016, and it is among the lowest in the world [5,6]. Aging gives rise to various challenges to a society’s sustainability, such as decreased national tax revenue, reduction in the labor force, and increased expenditures on public health and other infrastructure [7]
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