South Korea tops the list for the best paternity leave pay across countries, offering new fathers a fair chance at attending to their expanding families. Over the years, maternity leave programs, while not always enthusiastically offered, have become more common, but paternity leave remains a less popular prospect. Allowing parents to be equally available following the birth or adoption of a child is one of the most intuitively essential benefits an employer can offer, and paid leave is an additional consideration over merely offering leave.
A new study by Moorepay shows that South Korea offers the best valued statutory paternity leave in the world, with the average earner in line to receive 36 million South Korean Won (roughly £17,803 or $26,818). When adjusted to International Dollars, a hypothetical currency to estimate local spending power, that makes Intl$42,797. The studies indicate that this is 38.4% more than in any other country. This isn’t just a win for parents in South Korea, but a reminder for other countries to emulate what Korean fathers see as compensation during parental leave.
(Image: Freepik)
South Korea Offers the Best Paternity Leave Pay: Is Parental Leave Really Such a Big Deal?
In its mission to assess the highest-paid paternity leave offerings across the globe, UK-based payroll software company Moorepay calculated how statutory paternity leave could be estimated in monetary value by calculating the cash value of this leave and converting it to GBP as well as International dollars. On average, South Korea’s paternity leave policy allows fathers to take 20 days of paid paternity leave. While many countries stop there, the male parental leave policy in South Korea also offers an additional 18 months of leave on a decreasing pay scale. This is undeniably generous as far as paternity leave benefits go.
The countries that top the list behind South Korea include Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Japan, and Slovenia. Understandably, many European countries that are known for their well-established labor laws and work-life balance make it onto the list. When purchasing power is factored into the calculations with estimates on the International Dollar, the list looks slightly different, with Japan, Sweden, Slovenia, and Estonia following after SK.
The Countries That Offer the Best Paternity Leave Policies Understand the Value of the Family Unit
Paternity leave pay and policy vary by country, with paid paternity leave far from a statutory right in many regions. This remains a concern for multiple reasons. It places the pressures of early childcare on the female parent, affects how “non-traditional” families can approach child-rearing, creates a gap in the bonding between father and child, and also continues to enforce the stereotype of female employees as liabilities, as they are solely made responsible for putting their careers on pause for childcare. When all parents are allowed a break to raise their child, such reservations become moot.
South Korea has its reasons for prioritizing paternity leave. The region is one of the most seriously affected by its declining birthrate, and considerable efforts have been made to encourage young citizens to start families. Some might argue that the efforts don’t target the heart of the issues and resolve the reasons why women in the region no longer want to have children, but the offer of improved male parental leave in Korea is just one of the many ways to help employees build families without compromising their careers.
Paid Parental Leave Is A Basic Benefit for Most Employers to Consider
Regardless of where the country falls on the scale of generous paternity leave and pay, employers are free to set their own policies for supporting workers. The offer of paid leave, even on a decreasing scale, allows parents to decide how to manage their leave and availability more freely. Some might choose to use the full scope of leave available to them while others might return early, but the parents still have some control over the decision.
Any form of leave policy, whether for bereavement or simply as part of a standard offering of paid time off, is beneficial to the workforce. Allowing employees to live a fulfilling life outside of work frees them to channel that same energy and freedom into their work, creating a cycle of goodwill that’s hard to achieve in any other way. Paternity leave benefits are not unique or additional considerations but should be standard in any operation, even if their scale varies depending on what an employer can offer.
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