More than half of South Korean people think women are not treated equally to men, a government survey showed Tuesday.

According to the quinquennial government study, 53.4 percent of respondents said South Korea is not an equal society for women, down from 62.6 percent tallied in 2016. By gender, 65.4 percent of female and 41.4 percent of male respondents gave the same answer.

The survey was conducted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on 8,358 people aged 15 or older last year.

Those who think men and women are treated equally in South Korea accounted for 34.7 percent, up from 21 percent five years ago.

By age group, more than 70 percent of women in their 20s and 30s said they saw discrimination against the gender, while about 30 or 40 percent of their male counterparts agree to the view.

About 24 percent of men in their 20s think they are not treated equally, but only 4.3 percent of women in the same age group think so.

The government survey also showed that the portion of Koreans who think a man should provide financial support to the family reached 29.2 percent, down sharply from 42.1 percent tallied five years ago.

Only 17.4 percent of the respondents said a woman should take full responsibility for childcare even though she works. In the 2016 survey, 53.8 percent supported it.

But in reality, the government study demonstrated that women still undertake most of household chores and childcare in the family in 2021.

About 60 percent of dual-income families said wives take most care of their children. Women spend an average 1.4 hours per day in looking after kids, while men spend 0.7 hour. (Yonhap)