South Korea Boosts Parental Leave for Dads Amid Baby Crisis [Video]

South Korea aims to significantly increase the number of fathers taking parental leave, the presidential committee on population policy announced Tuesday.

The move is part of broader government efforts to encourage couples to have children and address the country’s declining fertility rate, the lowest in the world.

Compounding this issue, nearly 20 percent of South Korea‘s population is aged 65 or older, putting the nation on the precipice of becoming a “super-aged” society and raising concerns about long-term economic productivity.

The committee has set a target of 70 percent of fathers with children eight years old or younger taking parental leave by 2030. This figure would match the proportion of mothers who did so in 2022, according to the Yonhap News Agency. By comparison, only 6.8 percent of fathers of young children took leave that year.

Newsweek reached out to the South Korean embassy in the U.S. by email with a request for comment.