The 'National Gender Equality Index,' which can gauge the level of gender equality in our country, has decreased. This is the first time the National Gender Equality Index has regressed.
According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on the 17th, the '2023 National Gender Equality Index' is 65.4 points, which is a decrease of 0.8 points compared to 2022 (66.2 points).
The National Gender Equality Index is published annually to quantitatively assess the level of gender equality in our country in accordance with the Basic Act on Gender Equality and to establish and evaluate policy directions.
The index measures the gender gap, where full equality is represented by 100 points and full inequality is represented by 0 points. Our country's National Gender Equality Index started at 66.1 points in 2010, the first year of investigation, and rose each year to reach 75.4 points in 2021. However, it has effectively decreased for the first time in 2023.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family noted, "The indicator system changed significantly in 2022, which makes it difficult to compare on the same level."
Examining the levels of gender equality by area in 2023, education (95.6 points) was the highest, followed by health (94.2 points), income (79.4 points), employment (74.4 points), gender equality awareness (73.2 points), care (32.9 points), and decision-making (32.5 points). The area that worsened the most was gender equality awareness, which decreased by 6.8 points from the previous year.
In particular, the detailed indicator of the gender equality awareness area, 'fixed gender roles within the family,' decreased from 60.1 points to 43.7 points, a drop of 16.4 points. The care area also slightly declined from 33.0 points to 32.9 points.
Lee Dong-seon, head of the Gender Mainstreaming Research Institute of the Korea Women’s Policy Institute, explained, "The 'fixed gender roles within the family' reflects subjective perceptions of individuals rather than quantitative indicators, making it difficult to analyze clear causes for the (decline)."
Regarding the drop in the care area, it was analyzed that "the non-operation of care facilities and the increase in household care due to remote learning after the COVID-19 pandemic may have been influenced by the fact that mainly women used childcare support systems such as parental leave."
On the other hand, the decision-making area improved from 30.7 points to 32.5 points, the employment area improved from 74.0 points to 74.4 points in 2023, and the income area improved from 78.3 points to 79.4 points.
In the regional gender equality index, which classifies the gender equality levels of 17 regions nationwide into four grades, 'high regions (74.05 to 71.57 points)' include Seoul, Daejeon, Sejong, Chungnam, and Jeju. 'Low regions (68.72 to 67.74 points)' include Busan, Ulsan, Jeonnam, and Gyeongbuk.