Young South Korean men with children spend about an hour more each day on child care and housework than they did a decade ago, and the gap with their working wives has narrowed by nearly half. Women, however, still shoulder 1.8 times as much of that work as men.
Married men aged 25 to 39 with children in dual-income households spent an average of two hours and 17 minutes a day on housework and care in 2024, up one hour and three minutes from one hour and 14 minutes in 2014, according to a report on time use by marital and parental status released on the 19th by the National Data Agency. Men in single-income households spent two hours and 11 minutes, an increase of 54 minutes.
Men expanded their involvement across both chores and child care. Housework by men in dual-income homes doubled to 54 minutes from 27 minutes, while time spent caring for children and other family members rose to one hour and 22 minutes from 47 minutes. Men in single-income homes added 18 minutes of housework and 37 minutes of care.
Women's housework and care time edged down. Mothers in dual-income households spent four hours a day, down 30 minutes from four hours and 30 minutes. Housework fell by 30 minutes while care time was unchanged. Combined with the increase among men, the gap between spouses narrowed by one hour and 33 minutes, to one hour and 43 minutes from three hours and 16 minutes.
The burden nonetheless remains concentrated on women. At four hours, housework and care by women in dual-income households was about 1.8 times the two hours and 17 minutes logged by men. Men, by contrast, spent five hours and 20 minutes a day on paid work, an hour longer than women.
The gender gap also varied sharply by whether couples had children. Among dual-income couples with no minor children, the difference in housework and care time was just 34 minutes — about one-third of the gap among couples with children.
Married young adults with children spent an average of four hours and 15 minutes a day on housework and care, 4.9 times the 52 minutes recorded by their unmarried peers. Their leisure time came to three hours and 13 minutes, one hour and 29 minutes less than that of unmarried young adults.
"This analysis showed in concrete terms how young people's time use changes depending on marriage and whether they have children," said Ahn Hyung-joon, commissioner of the National Data Agency. "We will continue to use the time use survey to provide the basic data needed to craft policies that support work-family balance and improve quality of life."