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But according to a local think tank, higher labor participation by women - even those with a child - is associated with higher birthrates in many countries, which could point to a solution for Korea. Citing several international studies in a report yesterday, the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy said that a positive correlation between working women and birthrate has been observed in many countries since the mid-1980s.

The KIEP said the correlation was particularly strong in northern European countries, as well as in the United States and Britain. Those countries all recorded at least a 65 percent female labor participation rate, which measures the number of women aged 15 to 64 who work, and had on average a birthrate - the number of births per 1,000 population per year - of 1.8 as of 2006. The average figure for all OECD countries was 1.65 as of 2006, while Korea’s was 1.19 last year.

A low birthrate is expected to lead to a labor shortage, lower local demand and a burden on the younger generation as the number of elderly citizens requiring care balloons.

The key lies in how easy it is for a woman to come back to work after she gives birth, the institute said: Scandinavian countries are equipped with a social security system that guarantees female employees in the public sector will still have their jobs after returning from maternity leave, so they do not feel threatened and can safely leave work to have another baby.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. and Britain, labor flexibility makes it relatively easy for women to get rehired or find other jobs after childbirth, which helps encourage maternity, KIEP said.

“By easing conditions for hiring and dismissing people in regular jobs while making it more difficult to lay off non-regular workers, the government could enhance labor flexibility,” KIEP wrote.

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By Moon Gwang-lip [ Denne emailadresse er beskyttet mod programmer som samler emailadresser. Du skal aktivere javascript for at kunne se adressen. ]