Work comes first for Koreans in their 20s to 40s

For South Koreans in their 20s to 40s, work is considered the most important part of life, significantly outweighing children or marriage and even personal fulfillment, according to a new government-commissioned report.

The study released by the Presidential Committee for National Cohesion said that 38.1 percent of 2,690 respondents, South Koreans aged 25 to 44, selected "work" as their top priority when asked to rank the most important aspects of their current life. This was followed by personal life and self-fulfillment at 23.1 percent, romantic relationships and marriage at 22 percent, and children at 16.8 percent.

While men and women both ranked work first, the secondary priorities differed slightly by gender. For women, personal life came second, followed by romantic partnerships and children. For men, romantic relationships were next in importance after work.

Work remained the top priority even among parents.

Among women with children aged 0 to 5, responses were nearly split between work (30.6 percent) and children (29.1 percent). However, for men in the same category, the preference for work (35.2 percent) remained more pronounced than for children (25.6 percent).

A dominant 78 percent of respondents said they work out of economic necessity. More than 60 percent agreed with statements such as wanting to remain in a company until retirement or working hard to achieve financial success.

In contrast, just half supported the idea of minimizing work to enjoy more personal time, and fewer than 40 percent expressed a desire to pursue meaningful work over job stability.

The survey found strong agreement on the importance of women’s participation in the labor market, with nearly 80 percent of women and 70 percent of men saying women’s employment is necessary.

Contrary to lingering social stereotypes, both genders overwhelmingly rejected the notion that working mothers negatively impact their children. Fewer than one in five respondents agreed with the statement that mothers working outside the home harms their kids, regardless of the child’s age.

Men and women alike also expressed high support for greater male participation in domestic responsibilities. Around 70 percent of men and 80 percent of women agreed that men should be more involved in household chores and childcare.

The report concluded that growing consensus around evolving gender roles presents a timely opportunity for such policy reform.

“As both men and women support stronger labor participation for women and greater family involvement from men, now is the time to maximize the effectiveness of such policies,” the report noted. It also warned that policies assuming women will remain full-time homemakers are becoming outdated and urged more comprehensive support for working women.