The number of stay-at-home fathers in South Korea hit a six-year high in 2016 amid rising female employment and the tightened job market, government data showed Tuesday.

A total of 161,000 men took on the caretaking and homemaking role in a family last year, marking the largest since 2010, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

After peaking at 161,000 in 2010, the figure steadily dropped to 130,000 in 2014, though it rebounded to 150,000 in the following year.

The 161,000 men break down to 154,000 engaged in housekeeping activities and 7,000 dedicated to childrearing, it noted.

The statistics data showed that the number of house husbands who look after preschool-age kids fell slightly to 7,000 in 2016 from 8,000 tallied a year ago. But the number of housekeeping husbands rose to 154,000 last year from the previous year's 142,000.

The increase in the number of house spouses came as a change in the family structure and gender stereotypes, while higher-paid wives continue to work outside of the home and their husbands remain at home.

Meanwhile, the number of housewives in South Korea has been on a steady decline for years, with the figure falling to 7.04 million in 2016 from 7.3 million in 2013. (Yonhap)