A recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report underscores the persistent and compounding career barriers facing women in South Korea, revealing that the gender pay gap in the nation remains the widest among OECD countries. Government wage data cited in the report shows that at age 27, women earn 8% less than their male counterparts, a disparity that widens to 50% by the time they reach their late 50s.
Min Hee Kim, a Korean activist for women’s labor rights, explained to DW that domestic gender divisions directly translate into occupational segregation. “The gender division of labor inside the home leads directly to a gender division of labor in the labor market,” Kim stated. She emphasized that the issue extends beyond simple wage differences; as women age, their employment options shrink, and the financial impacts of career breaks and precarious work accumulate.
The HRW study, titled “Too Old and a Woman,” interviewed 41 South Korean women aged 28 to 87 to document these systemic challenges. While overt discrimination has declined since the 1980s, when employers could legally dismiss women upon marriage, Kim noted that bias has merely shifted form. Today, while open refusal to hire women is rare, caregiving duties still disproportionately fall on women, often forcing them into lower-paid roles upon re-entry.
Despite women surpassing men in university enrollment since the 1980s, the professional landscape remains unequal. A 2024 study found that women earned 22% less than men just one year after graduation. Many respondents reported that after leaving the workforce for family reasons, their return was limited to sectors such as call centers, cleaning, or caregiving. Furthermore, women encountered a glass ceiling in leadership, holding only 18% of managerial positions in 2024 and comprising just five of the 38 senior civil servants.
Income trajectories also show a sharp decline for women after their late 30s. J. Mi-sook, 53, recounted how her previous work experience was disregarded by a new employer, forcing her back to an entry-level position with reduced pay. HRW attributes this to career interruptions and occupational segregation, arguing that the mandatory retirement age and “peak wage” systems exacerbate financial instability for older workers.
The report highlights severe pension disparities as well. Data indicates that as of October 2025, women received only 53% of the National Old Age Pension compared to men, reflecting a 47% gap. Park Jae-soon, 61, shared her experience of being forced into early retirement and part-time care work, seeing her annual income plummet by 72% from 55 million won to 15.6 million won.
Kim described this as structural discrimination, where biases are so embedded in institutions that individuals may internalize them as personal failures. However, she stressed that these issues are interconnected, noting that career interruptions in one’s 30s and part-time work in one’s 40s ultimately become pension crises in one’s 50s.
While the South Korean government has announced plans to gradually raise the statutory retirement age to 65, advocates argue this alone is insufficient. Kim called for transparent wage structures, genuine equal pay, and the recognition of care work as a public responsibility rather than a burden on individual families. The report also acknowledged limitations, noting that the voices of disabled women, migrant workers, and those outside Seoul were underrepresented.
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