The employment rate for women aged 15-64 reached 60 percent in 2022, topping the 60 percent mark for the first time, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. It was up 7.3 percentage points compared to 2020.

The corresponding figure for men gained from 74 percent in 2010 to 76.9 percent in 2022.

Of the female wageworkers, 22.8 percent had low-paying jobs which were paid less than two-thirds of the median wage in 2022. It almost doubled the proportion of male low-wage workers at 11.8 percent.

The employed women earned 18,113 won (13.6 U.S. dollars) in hourly wage last year, or about 70 percent of the 25,866 won (19.4 dollars) earned by the employed men.

In terms of the monthly wage, women received 2,683,000 won (2,020 dollars), or around 65 percent of the 4,137,000 won (3,110 dollars) for men.

About 46 percent of female wageworkers owned temporary jobs in 2022, 15.4 percentage points higher than 30.6 percent for men.