Addressing Retirement Adequacy Gap Faced by Women Caregivers
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns whether prolonged caregiving responsibilities disproportionately impact the retirement adequacy of women and if additional measures are needed, as raised by Mr Gabriel Lam to the Acting Minister for Manpower. In response, Ms Jasmin Lau stated that while women form the majority of residents outside the labour force due to parental caregiving, the precise impact cannot be quantified because individual employment adjustments are personal family arrangements. To support caregivers in staying in or returning to work, the Ministry provides employment facilitation, reskilling support, and guidelines on flexible work arrangements, which are offered by around seven in 10 firms. Furthermore, working family members are able to top up caregivers' Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings. Eligible caregivers can also benefit from government support schemes, including the Workfare Income Supplement, Silver Support Scheme, Matched Retirement Savings Scheme, and the Budget 2026 CPF Top-Up.
Transcript
81 Mr Gabriel Lam asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry has assessed whether prolonged caregiving responsibilities disproportionately affect the retirement adequacy of women, particularly those who reduce their working hours or leave the workforce to care for elderly parents; and (b) whether additional measures are needed to address this gap.
Ms Jasmin Lau: Based on the Comprehensive Labour Force Survey, women make up the majority of residents outside the labour force primarily due to caregiving for parents, although the proportion has declined from 72.2% in 2021 to 59.9% in 2025. However, we are unable to quantify whether prolonged caregiving responsibilities disproportionately affect the retirement adequacy of women, as we do not track the duration and extent of employment adjustments attributable to caregiving, which are personal family arrangements.
We support caregivers to remain in or return to work if they wish to do so. Caregivers returning to the workforce can tap on employment facilitation and reskilling support. We also support working caregivers in managing work and caregiving commitments by setting guidelines on flexible work arrangements, which are offered by around seven in 10 firms.
Working family members of caregivers can top up the caregivers' Central Provident Fund savings if they wish to do so. In addition, eligible caregivers can benefit from schemes, such as the Workfare Income Supplement, Silver Support Scheme and Matched Retirement Savings Scheme, as well as the Budget 2026 CPF Top-Up.