SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Employment rate for married South Korean women hit a new record high in the first half of this year thanks to the government's efforts to help women find jobs, statistical office data showed Tuesday.

The number of married women aged 15-54 totaled 7,654,000 in the first half, down 290,000 compared to the same period of last year, according to Statistics Korea. It accounted for 57.2 percent of total women in the age group.

Employment rate for married women in the age group rose 1.7 percentage points over the year to reach a new high of 66.0 percent in the first half.

Hiring rate for married women living with children under the age of 18 advanced 2.4 percentage points to 62.4 percent, marking the highest since relevant data began to be compiled in 2016.

Employment rate for married South Korean women has been on the increase thanks to government policies to support women's attempt to sustain jobs, such as the reduced working hours during pregnancy and when raising babies.

Of married women aged 15-54, 1,215,000 left jobs and experienced career interruptions in the first half of this year, down 133,000 from a year earlier.

Among the women who experienced career disruptions, 41.1 percent cited child-raising as the main reason to quit jobs, followed by marriage at 24.9 percent and pregnancy and childbirth at 24.4 percent.

The rate for married women who went through career discontinuation for more than 10 years stood at 41.2 percent, followed by 22.8 percent for those with a discontinuation of between five and 10 years and 12.6 percent with a discontinuation of less than one year. Enditem

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