Starting this month, couples with children will be entitled to take up to three years of combined parental leave instead of the current two years. 

The labor ministry said the Cabinet approved the change Tuesday along with other revisions to the enforcement decrees of the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act, the Labor Standards Act and the Employment Insurance Act. 

The changes to all three laws, which take effect February 23, were promulgated in October with the aim of supporting families with children.

As a result, a parent who has spent at least three months on maternity or paternity leave will be allowed to extend the total to 18 months instead of the current 12 months. 

The government will continue to provide up to one-point-six million won, or around eleven-hundred U.S. dollars, in parental leave benefits for workers during that period. 

Women who experience a miscarriage or stillbirth will be able to take ten days of leave instead of the current five.