Working Mothers' Choice between Parental Leave and Job Continuity A Paradox in South Korea

Abstract

This study investigate whether the positive relationship between the use of parental leave and job continuity of mothers exists in Korea. using a secondary dataset composed of 1,000 mothers who have already utilized maternity leave, the article finds that the relationship between the use of parental leave and job continuity of mothers is negative. To enable working mothers to reconcile paid work and family responsibility in Korea, it is therefore necessary to construct a more comprehensive policy package, including expansion of the publicly supported childcare system, the reformation of childcare responsibility between genders, and public payments for childcare provided by families.