ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the major characteristics of the work/care regime in South Korea with special emphasis on the role of the state. Due to the limited role of trade unions, employers' associations and not-for-profit organisations, the state has consistently increased its presence and influence in the work/care regime. South Korea is relatively highly ranked in the OECD's Human Development Index (HDI) for women, due to its rapid economic growth, but its level of gender equality lags behind other measures of the HDI at the national level. In South Korea, the labour market participation of women continues to follow a distinctive M-shape, where career disruption among women above 30 years of age lowers participation. Nowadays in South Korea young people without jobs or with unstable jobs lack the financial means to marry or avoid marriage because of the rising cost of raising children. The South Korean state's conservative views on women's difference penetrate almost all its family and employment policies.
