4 Gender inequality case study

Korea - Birth map

The South Korean government has been trying to motivate childbirth by many promotion campaigns as ignoring gender inequality in the society which has led to low birth rate. On the other hand, one of the childbirth promotion campaigns caused people's anger.

South Korea has closed a government website showing the number of women aged between 15 and 49 – of childbearing age – by city district and region after a public outcry (The Guardian, 2016).

The Ministry of the Interior launched the site, which features a pink-coloured “birth map” and the website was taken offline following criticism the government was trying to shame women for not having babies. Some said the government treated the country’s low birth rate as an issue only for women, pointing out that no pictures of men were used on the website.

Using pink as the main colour, the site contained information on birth rates, child benefits from local governments, average marriage age and other data. On top of the website, it showed a picture of a woman kissing a little girl.

In the birth map, the regions with a higher number of female residents aged 15-49 were colored in dark pink while the regions with a lower number of such women were shown in light pink. The site also featured a ranking of regions by the number of women aged 15 to 49.

Users could look up how many women between those ages resided in their neighbourhood for the past 10 years.

Many users reacted with wonder and anger, saying they did not understand what the number of women who could theoretically get pregnant had to do with encouraging people to have more babies.

“I felt so angered that it blatantly showed how the government saw women’s bodies as the country’s reproductive tools, not that belonging to the woman,” said Lee Min-kyung, a 24-year-old feminism writer.

“I felt like nothing has changed and the hatred of women that I have experienced appeared again.”

The government had touted it as a tool to increase the public’s understanding of the country’s low birth rate and compare the benefits from local governments for having a baby or raising a child.

“It was established to encourage local governments to learn and compare other governments’ benefits and to promote free competition,” the ministry said in the press release distributed at the time of its launch. Calls seeking comments were not answered on Friday.

South Korea is struggling to boost its rock-bottom birth rate, one of the lowest among rich countries. This year, the country also saw growth of vocal feminist movements protesting against misogynist views reflected in government policies and pop culture.

Gender equality in Korea still lags behind several other OECD countries, with company practices reflecting outdated norms about women’s role as the caretaker of a family. Other non-mandatory work-life balance policies—like flexible or reduced work hours and in-office child care—vary depending on the generosity of the companies. Women themselves often feel like they have to give up their careers to raise a family—and for women of childbearing age trying to fight their way up the ladder, career often takes priority.

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The UK - Pregnancy discrimination

All employees, casual workers, agency workers, freelancers and contractors are protected by pregnancy and maternity discrimination law from day one of their employment (Equality Act, 2010).

What is the maternity discrimination?

- selection for redundancy on the grounds of pregnancy

- dismissal because of pregnancy

- refusal of training or promotion opportunities

- reduction of pay or hours

- pressure to resign 

- failure to carry out a risk assessment and take action to protect your health and safety.

Maternity discrimination has remained in UK society.

- 54,000 women a year are pushed out of their jobs due to pregnancy or maternity leave (EHRC, 2016)

- 77% of working mums have encountered negative or discriminatory treatment at work (EHRC, 2016)

- 2.2 million people stay at home to look after children, 60% of whom are looking to get back to work (My Family Care Survey, 2015)

- 40% of employers say they would avoid hiring a woman of childbearing age (Slater and Gordon, 2015)

- 84% of generation Z and millennials seek flexibility when job hunting and the UK economy would be £165 million richer/more productive if all businesses got on board (government’s capital and wellbeing report, 2017)

Nearly half of working mums think working flexibly has affected their ability to progress their career, although almost three quarters identify flexible work as crucial to getting more women into senior roles (workingmums.co.uk annual survey, 2017)

44% of working mums say they earn less than before they had children (Working mums research, 2017)

Miss W worked about 13 hours a week (over two to three days) as a maid in a hotel. A roster was drawn up each week. She informed her employer that she was pregnant and took three days off sick. She was rostered to work for two weeks but, thereafter, was not rostered for any more work. The tribunal found that she had been treated unfavourably because of her pregnancy. Her employer said that she was not rostered because there was not enough work available but the tribunal found that another employee had been allocated more than her usual contractual hours. (Walton v The Nottingham Gateway Hotel Ltd,)

Mrs C advised her line manager of her pregnancy. Her manager began treating her unfavourably throughout her pregnancy, forcing her to work long hours and sidelining her. Mrs C was reluctant to raise a complaint. However, on return from maternity leave, she made a flexible working request which her manager refused. She appealed against the refusal of flexible work and informed HR of the treatment to which she had been subjected during her pregnancy. Her line manager was reprimanded and her flexible working request was granted.