South Korea Extends Maternity Leave for Men

Government of South Korea has decided to allow male employees to get 10 gays as maternity leave as of the next month.

Ministry of Manpower in S. Korea released a statement on Monday says that the right to this  sort of  leaves won’t limit to mothers who give birth.

The statement points out that decision of extending maternity leave seeks to encourage more people to attain balance between work and familial  life.

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Currently, male employees could get three-day paid vacancy when their wives give birth.

The act comes to force by tomorrow, the first of October.

To alleviate financial burden off the  minor firms, the South Korean government said it plans to accumulate funds equivalent to five-day wages for the male employees who will get  paternal vacancy.

Sources of government revealed that there are programs to reduce hours of work for fathers who raise children under the age of eight.

This privilege will extend for two years only.

Those fathers who raise children in the elementary school or kindergarten have the right to get maternity leave for a year as maximum.

Em Seu- Geung, Under-Secreatary of Manpower in South Korea, said that the step will encourage a bigger number of fathers to take part in raising children and widen culture of fathers and mothers in taking care of their children.

South Korea’s economy grew at its fastest rate in nearly two years in the second quarter, as heavy government spending countered the effects of a slowdown in China, a trade spat with Japan and the US-China trade war.

Advance data published by the Bank of Korea on Thursday showed that gross domestic product in Asia’s fourth-largest economy grew 1.1 per cent in the second quarter compared with the first quarter, when the economy posted its biggest contraction since the global financial crisis.

GDP grew 2.1 per cent compared with the same quarter a year ago.

But it remains unclear how strong the recovery will be, given deteriorating external conditions, as Japan is set to expand its export curbs on high-tech materials to South Korea, a move that is expected to hit South Korean chip-makers hard.