Study on Profile of Individuals Providing Informal and Unpaid Caregiving

13 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Manpower in view of the estimated cost of informal caregiving in Singapore valued at $1.28 billion, whether the Government has studied or will the Government be studying the number of people who (i) are carrying out unpaid caregiving and their age range; (ii) quit their full-time jobs to conduct unpaid caregiving and their age range and (iii) may not have the means to support themselves when they themselves become seniors.

The Minister of State for Manpower (Ms Gan Siow Huang) (for the Minister for Manpower): Mr Speaker, as a rough approximation based on available data in 2023, there were around 89,000 residents outside the labour force due to caregiving responsibilities. Of these, around 3,000 were aged 15 to 29; 17,000 were aged 30 to 39; 22,000 were aged 40 to 49; and 47,000 were aged 50 and above.

We do not have specific data on the number of residents who are carrying out unpaid caregiving and how many do not have the means to support themselves when they become seniors. We recognise the importance of supporting caregivers in terms of their employment and retirement adequacy. There are various job placement and skills upgrading measures for those who wish to return to work, as well as Central Provident Fund support schemes to boost their retirement adequacy. We will continue to review our efforts, so that there will be adequate support for caregivers who are vulnerable.

Mr Speaker: Mr Gerald Giam.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Aljunied): I thank the Minister of State for the reply. Has the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) conducted any studies regarding the impact on the productivity and long-term competitiveness of our workforce, when an increasing number of residents need to quit full-time work or reduce working hours in order to perform unpaid caregiving for their loved ones? What measures have been considered to mitigate these effects on workers and the economy, including allocating more resources to paid caregiving?

And on that note, will the Ministry consider establishing a paid family care leave scheme, modelled after the childcare leave scheme, to provide caregiving leave to employees who are the primary caregivers for elderly parents or family members with disabilities? For example, the first three days could be paid for by employers and the remaining three days paid for by the Government. This will go some way to help improve the quality of life, economic security and productivity of working caregivers.

Ms Gan Siow Huang: I thank the Member for the two supplementary questions. We are mindful that caregiving will be an increased trend amongst our adult population, especially since by 2030, one in four local residents would be above 65 years old.

So, they are many measures that the Government is taking to make the caregiving responsibility more manageable for families. On one hand, we are looking at daycare centres, institutions, home care and caregiver respite programmes to make the caregiving a shared responsibility, something for which there are external groups that families can turn to.

On the work front, it would certainly be a strain on people who are working and who also have to take care of either seniors, or young children, or vulnerable families at the same time. That is why we have been working very hard to encourage workplaces to have flexible work arrangements, so that there will be better feasibility for caregivers to still be able to continue to work.

On whether there has been a study on the impact on productivity and the employment rate for adults as a result of growing caregiving demand, we have not taken on such a study yet, but we have been monitoring very closely the employment rate as well as unemployment rate for Singaporeans. And thus far, the trend has been quite stable and healthy. In fact, for women, I am very happy to say that the employment rate has actually grown, despite the increase in caregiving responsibilities.

On the second supplementary question about family care leave, I suppose that the Member is referring to leave given to employees who have to take care of children or senior family members. We have actually enhanced the leave for parents to take care of infants. Next year onwards, shared parental leave as well as paternity leave will be enhanced. I think that is good news and we seek not just employers', but co-workers' and also the community's support for parents with young children.

As for employees who have to take care of seniors, we recognise that caregiving for parents is an important responsibility and even without any legislated mandatory requirement or financial incentives to do so, many progressive employers here have stepped up to introduce caregiving-related leave provisions beyond what is currently mandated, as part of the human resources' strategy to attract and retain talent.

In 2022, about 58% of employers voluntarily provided additional paid caregiving leave, such as family care leave for their employees, and more than 4,000 employers have also adopted the tripartite standard on unpaid leave for unexpected care needs.

Going forward, we will certainly want to work more closely with the industry, as well as with employers, to look at other ways that we can support employees who have caregiving needs for the elderly.

Mr Speaker: Ms Carrie Tan.

Ms Carrie Tan (Nee Soon): Thank you, Speaker. I appreciate the Minister of State's response and also the whole myriad of flexible work arrangements and improvements that we are forging in society. But I think there is a significant subset of caregivers who are in situations where both their parents are down with very difficult health conditions, where there is absolutely no option for them to just take on the part-time caregiver role. This number, we do not know how big it is, but for the families and the caregivers who are in that situation, they really suffer significant financial impact for the number of years lost that they are not able to work.

I have residents who are in their 40s who are in this predicament, so I have actually been championing for Carefare for the past four years in Parliament. So, I would like to ask for an update – whether MOM would consider studying what this number of highly impacted families are, maybe by way of additional questions in the national census, to find out and identify these group of families who are very vulnerable because of intense care needs and where no extent of flexible work arrangements is feasible for them.

Ms Gan Siow Huang: I thank the Member, Ms Carrie Tan, for re-raising the idea of Carefare. The Ministry of Health (MOH) has also enhanced the Home Caregiving Grant, in recognition that some financial support would be helpful for families of certain household income categories. And I think there is more that ought to be done, if the Home Caregiving Grant, by itself, is not sufficient.

On the MOH front, I understand there are also schemes to make caregiving more affordable, alternative caregiving support, instead of just relying on family members quitting their jobs to support the elderly family members.

On the data portion, I think we will work closely with MOH to monitor as well as to analyse the trend of the profile of caregivers, understanding that there are many archetypes out there and that we do want to provide more targeted support for each archetype of caregiver.

Mr Speaker: Last supplementary question, Mr Giam.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: Sir, I thank the Minister of State for her reply to my supplementary question. I have two more questions. The Minister of State said that many progressive employers have implemented caregiving leave. So, why not legislate it, so that all employers, whether progressive or less progressive, will provide caregiving leave for their employees? In the meantime, can the Government provide more financial and non-financial incentives to employers who provide caregiving leave for their employees?

And secondly, can the Minister of State provide any details on any plans or initiatives by MOM to assist individuals who have taken on unpaid caregiving responsibilities and now ready to reintegrate into the workforce once their caregiving responsibilities are over?

Ms Gan Siow Huang: First, on the support for caregivers who might want to return to work, there are career conversion programmes, upskilling resources, career trials and a whole string of career support measures that are available. We certainly welcome caregivers who want to return to work to tap on all this support that is available.

On working with employers to mandate caregiving leave, as suggested by Mr Gerald Giam, there are many types of leave provisions that we are working with the industry on, to support the various needs of employees. As I mentioned earlier on, we have just enhanced the paternity leave as well as the shared parental leave and that is to cater to parents with young children.

We have been working closely with the Singapore National Employers Federation, as well as with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). And the feedback that we get, especially from NTUC, the workers, is that the mandatory leave is, if it is just a few days, it may not be sufficient, because if you are taking care of an elderly parent, it is actually a daily need; it is not just one or two days per year. Instead, building flexibility into work arrangements, whether it is part-time work, staggered working hours or even hybrid work, working from home on some days every week, these are better appreciated and more sustainable for employees who have to take care of their elderly family members, on a prolonged period, every day.