Revising Childcare Leave Entitlement for Parents with Two or More Children
Ministry of FinanceSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim’s inquiry regarding increasing childcare leave for parents with two or more children to promote fertility. Minister Indranee Rajah highlighted recent 2024 enhancements, including doubling Government-Paid Paternity Leave to four weeks and Unpaid Infant Care Leave to 12 days. The Government is currently studying further leave support for parents with infants while balancing parental needs against employers' operational and manpower requirements. Minister Indranee Rajah emphasized the importance of flexible work arrangements, noting that the Tripartite Guidelines on FWA Requests will take effect in December 2024. These efforts aim to foster family-friendly workplace cultures through tripartite collaboration to support Singaporeans’ marriage and parenthood aspirations.
Transcript
36 Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether the Government has any plans to increase the childcare leave entitlement for parents of second or more children as an additional incentive to promote fertility.
Ms Indranee Rajah (for the Prime Minister): We recognise that many parents with young children require support in managing their work and caregiving responsibilities. We have, therefore, progressively increased parental leave provisions over the years. The most recent enhancement was implemented on 1 January 2024, when we doubled Government-Paid Paternity Leave from two to four weeks on a voluntary basis, and Unpaid Infant Care Leave from six to 12 days per parent per year in their child’s first two years. We are presently studying how to strengthen parental leave support for those with infants who typically have high care needs.
In considering any enhancement to leave provisions, including increasing childcare leave for parents with more children, we will need to strike a balance between supporting the needs of parents and the impact on employers’ manpower and operational requirements. Therefore, beyond legislated leave provisions, we also encourage other sustainable ways that support parents in juggling work and caregiving commitments, such as flexible work arrangements (FWAs). The Tripartite Guidelines on FWA Requests will take effect from 1 December 2024. The mandatory guidelines will enable employers and employees to have open discussions and work out arrangements that can meet both parties’ needs and constraints.
It is also critical for our workplaces to have a family-friendly culture and we encourage employers, supervisors and colleagues to be supportive when working parents need to tap on these measures to care for their children. On the Government’s part, we will continue to work with the Tripartite Partners and community partners to foster a conducive environment to support Singaporeans’ marriage and parenthood aspirations.