This paper investigates the causes of recent decline in employment amongthe 35~45 years old women in Korea. The decline appear to have resultedpartly from the shift of age-employment profile to the right, which wascontributable to delayed marriages. However, the more important cause forthe decline was the changes in the effects of children on mothers’employment. The negative effects of pre-school children have improved sincethe mid-2000s, but the negative effects of elementary school children havedeepened. At the same tine, the positive effects of children in middle and highschools, if any, appear to have dissipated. There results suggest for theimportance of policies that would effectively reduce the burden of mothers withschool children.