The day I decided to take a career break, I received these flowers as a gift — a gesture to say, “You’ve worked so hard.” This photo shows the flowers I was given that day.(Photo by Milly)    One of the biggest barriers women face when participating in Korean society is the career break. According to recent data from Statistics Korea , about 15.9% of married women aged 15 to 54 have experienced a career interruption, and 41.2% of them have been out of the workforce for over ten years. The most common reason for career interruption is childcare , accounting for 41.1% of all cases.   These figures show that career breaks are not simply short pauses but often structural and long-term barriers to reemployment. Many women who have experienced such interruptions inevitably ask themselves:   “Can I ever continue my career again?”   Why We Should Pay Attention to the Social Economy One potential answer to this challenge lies in the social economy . As discus...