SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Young South Koreans enjoyed more personal leisure time amid a narrowing gender gap in housework and childcare, a statistics ministry report showed Monday.
According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, a comprehensive analysis of time-use patterns among young adults aged 25 to 39 between 2014 and 2024 revealed significant shifts depending on marital and parental status.
In 2024, a typical day for a young South Korean consisted of 11 hours and 25 minutes for essential activities such as sleeping and eating, 8 hours and 22 minutes for mandatory duties including work, housework and childcare, and 4 hours and 13 minutes for leisure.
Compared to 10 years ago, essential and leisure time increased by 16 minutes and 21 minutes each, while mandatory duty time decreased by 37 minutes.
The lifestyle diverged once they had children. Married young adults with children spent an average of 4 hours and 15 minutes on housework and childcare, far more than their unmarried peers who just spent 52 minutes.
Married parents had 49 minutes less work time and 1 hour and 29 minutes less leisure time than single adults.
A traditional gender gap in housework and childcare narrowed over the past decade as fathers contributed more.
The time married fathers spent on housework and childcare grew by about 1 hour across both single-income and dual-income households.
Women's domestic labor hours fell by 14 minutes in single-income homes and 30 minutes in dual-income homes. ■