Members of Parliament from both sides of the aisle put forward a slew of suggestions during a motion on Wednesday (Feb 5) to support Singaporeans in starting and raising families. The key proposals included increasing childcare leave, making childcare more affordable, improving work-life balance, and making home ownership more accessible.
In the motion tabled by MPs Hany Soh (PAP-Marsiling-Yew Tee) and Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (PAP-Chua Chu Kang), it calls for the continued review and updating of policies to better support families, as well as the marriage and parenthood aspirations of Singaporeans, and endorses a whole of society approach to build a Singapore Made for Families.
In response to Mr. Leong, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah said that the government had already started the “reimagination process” in the form of Forward SG – an effort launched in 2022 to seek feedback on refreshing Singapore’s social compact. She mentioned, “The boat called ‘reimagination’ has already left port and is sailing. To ask us in this amendment to start reimagination is kind of like a step back, it is kind of like going to the port whereas, the ship has already sailed.”
MP Louis Ng (PAP-Nee Soon) reiterated his call for childcare leave to be provided on a per-child basis, noting that the current provision of six days for parents with children up to seven years old is insufficient. He cited a case where a parent had to use 10 days of leave to take care of a child who had contracted hand, foot, and mouth disease, stating, “I should add that this parent has three children, he would not have any leave left if his two other children subsequently contracted HFMD, which does have an incubation period.”
MP Xie Yao Quan (PAP-Jurong) suggested raising the basic subsidy for full-day childcare by S$100 and reducing the minimum co-payment for median and lower-income households by the same amount. He mentioned, “In this way, young parents across the board, whether higher or lower income, can benefit from S$100 less in full-day childcare fees every month.”
Several MPs proposed measures to improve work-life balance. MP Melvin Yong (PAP-Radin Mas) stressed the importance of flexible work arrangements and work-life balance, urging all employers in Singapore to implement a ‘right to disconnect’ policy at the workplace. He added, “Employers play a key role in providing work-life balance.”
MP Louis Chua (WP-Sengkang) expressed concern that the progress made in normalizing flexible work arrangements is “quickly eroding away” and reiterated his call to enshrine the right into law. Ms. Gan said legal protections alone would not guarantee high adoption as employers can still reject requests based on business needs. She emphasized supporting companies such as through job redesign and HR training to make flexible work arrangements more sustainable.
