(Seoul) \u2013 Women in\u00a0South Korea face systemic gender discrimination at every stage of their working lives, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. These adverse impacts accumulate as women get older, and are compounded by systemic age discrimination, resulting in harm to their physical and mental health.
The 92-page report, \u201cToo Old and a Woman: Systemic Age and Gender Discrimination Against Women at Work in South Korea,\u201d documents that social attitudes toward education, unfair treatment in hiring, disrupted careers due to family responsibilities, limited promotion opportunities, glass ceilings, and sexual harassment create a disadvantage for South Korean women throughout their working lives. As women get older, their work opportunities narrow to a handful of low-paid, insecure jobs, and the gender pay gap increases. By the time they are eligible for pensions, women face a significant gender pension gap.
\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n September 8, 2026\n \n Too Old and A Woman\n\n \nSystemic Age and Gender Discrimination Against Women at Work in South Korea
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\n \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\u201cSouth Korean women spend their entire working lives in a system stacked against them, which becomes harder as they get older,\u201d said\u00a0Bridget Sleap, senior researcher on the rights of older people at Human Rights Watch. \u201cThe government should take steps to ensure women\u2019s equality at work and equal access to adequate pensions.\u201d
Between February and November 2025, Human Rights Watch interviewed 41 South Korean women, ages 28 to 87, working in the public and private sectors. In addition, Human Rights Watch consulted 59 experts, including researchers, academics, and trade union workers, analyzed government data, and reviewed national legislation and reports by government, research, and international institutions.
The older women get, the fewer work opportunities they have, and the worse their working conditions become, Human Rights Watch found. In her 20s, Yang Myung-ju, 55, assessed claims at an insurance company. When she went back to work at 41 after raising her sons, the only job she could find was part-time in a call center on a temporary contract with no sick pay. \u201cWhen I tried to go back to work in a large company, the positions had already gone to younger workers and there was no spot for middle-aged women,\u201d she said. \u201cOnly the call center had no age limit.\u201d
\n\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n \n Click to expand Image\n \n\n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n Graphic \u00a9 2026 Human Rights Watch \n \n \n\n\n \nGovernment efforts to support women to return to work contribute to women\u2019s occupational segregation. The Employment and Labor Ministry promotes jobs for women in their 30s to 50s on Work24, its employment website, that reinforce gender stereotypes, revolving predominantly around beauty, care work, education, and relationship support.
The Labor Ministry promotes an even more limited range of low-paid, precarious jobs to older people. Sixty percent of jobs on Work24 tagged for those aged 50 or older were in-home caregiving jobs, and 90 percent fell under just five categories: health care, care and support; cleaning services; building security and management; and food service. The majority of applicants for lower paid care worker, building cleaner, kitchen assistant, cook, and social service roles are older women.
The work available to older women can cause significant harm to their physical and mental health, Human Rights Watch found. Older women care workers\u00a0face disproportionate risk of exposure to sexual harassment, inappropriate sexual behavior, and abuse. The intense physical workloads of school cooks, cleaners, care workers and those working on the street\u00a0take their toll.
As women get older, they face ageism\u2014stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination based on older age\u2014as well as sexism. \u201cNobody likes older women at work,\u201d said C. Eun-jung, a 55-year-old transport worker. She said that younger male colleagues called older women \u201ckkul ajumma,\u201d honey auntie. \u201cIt\u2019s very mocking,\u201d she said, \u201cand has negative connotations, that [older] women take the benefits that men should have, like sucking honey.\u201d
Regulations governing the National Old Age Pension compound women\u2019s low pensions which are on average 47 percent lower than men\u2019s. Women are more likely than men to get a reduced pension because they have not contributed for the 20 or more years necessary to qualify for a full one. The design of the \u201cchildbirth credit\u201d also creates a disadvantage for women. Because the benefit is paid at pension eligibility age and generally allocated to the higher earning parent, only 3 percent of childbirth credit recipients in 2025 were women, despite women being the overwhelming majority of their children\u2019s primary caregivers.
\n\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n \n Click to expand Image\n \n\n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n Graphic \u00a9 2026 Human Rights Watch \n \n \n\n\n \nJung Kyong-sook, 55, went back to work in her mid-40s and will be eligible for the National Old Age Pension when she is 65, but expects to get a pension below the monthly poverty line of KRW1.2 million (US$791). \u201cThe pension is so little,\u201d she said. \u201cI assume I'll get KRW500,000 to KRW600,000 ($349 to $419) per month. That's why we need to work until 70.\u201d
Human Rights Watch contacted the Ministries of Employment and Labor, Gender Equality and Family, Health and Welfare, and the National Pension Service in May for comment on its findings but has not received any responses.
Human Rights Watch\u2019s findings are consistent with government data documenting persistent\u00a0gender and\u00a0age inequalities in employment and\u00a0pension income.
South Korea is obligated under\u00a0international human rights law to ensure that everyone can enjoy their rights to nondiscrimination, work, and social security, regardless of age and gender. The South Korean government should address harmful age and gender stereotypes, remove gender and age biases from its employment support programs, adopt a comprehensive antidiscrimination law, and ensure equal access to pensions of at least equivalent to a living wage.
\u201cSystemic discrimination at work is causing South Korean women significant harm,\u201d Sleap said. \u201cThe South Korean government needs to dismantle harmful gender and age stereotypes so that younger and older women alike will not be trapped in a system of ever-decreasing pay, increasing occupational segregation, and inadequate income in older age with little hope of improvement.\u201d
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