Mr Speaker Sir, I rise in support of the Bill.
This Bill, if passed, is a significant signal to our young Singaporeans that the government will make big policy moves to support their family journeys.
Many young couples desire to be highly involved parents.
Besides resources and housing, many of them worry if they would have the space and time to care for their children. They wanted to give their best to their children.
Many policy interventions would be necessary and some are already in place.
The first year of birth is often the most challenging. As with all parents, we all struggle with caring for our babies. It is nearly always “all hands on deck or crib” in that first year.
I remembered speaking about this issue in 2016, a few months after the birth of my first child, the weariness and eyebags were very evident then.
Further supporting young Singaporeans in the first year of birth is the right move.
But this Bill also sends a strong message that there needs to be a greater and faster evolution in gender-based family stereotypes.
Our women and mothers bear a greater responsibility at home. While we have made progress over the years, it is still true that our women and mothers bear the lion’s share of the burden.
The differences between male and female labour force participation rates are evident.
So, our mothers will need greater caregiving support.
But we also need a strong societal signal that everyone can play a role to narrow the gender gap, especially those borne out of cultural norms.
When fully implemented on Apr 1, 2026, it will bring total paid parental leave to 30 weeks or 7.5 months, up from the current 20 weeks.
It also encourages fathers to play a greater role in parenting.
With smaller family sizes, young couples are increasingly finding it harder to manage both their career aspirations with their family commitment.
And most of us would have heard of our young couples shelving their plans to start families because of the lack of caregiving support.
I believe the enhanced leave structure will go a long way in both helping couples who wish to start or expand their families better manage their responsibilities.
And it will also continue to keep up the pace in evolving social cultural norms by promoting the new norm of shared parenting.
But providing the legislative support is futile if the utilisation of the GPPL does not continue to improve, from the 53% in 2022. The legislative signal can promote an important signal to employers and peers. But there are also larger societal shifts that are imperative to the success of this policy shift, the GPPL. I shall address them in turn.
Fathers must step up to their roles
Firstly, fathers must actively step up to their responsibilities to be more involved. The Bill places a renewed emphasis on the role of fathers on parenting.
It is a cultural norm, perhaps more so in Asian societies, that caregiving is still seen as that of falling within the domain of mothers, while fathers are the traditional breadwinner.
I believe that such cultural norms are already changing, especially amongst our younger Singaporeans. But such outdated notions remain in Singapore’s society.
The enhanced GPPL, whilst a shift in policy, cannot by itself drive cultural change.
For that shift to happen, we need both fathers and mothers to contribute within the home and in the workplace.
This is why I would like to call on fathers to utilise the GPPL to take on an active, meaningful role in raising their children.
Research has shown that fathers actively participating in caregiving for their children build stronger bonds with their children.
Downstream effects of undertaking such an active role include positive cognitive and social developmental outcomes in children, and can include positive labour-market outcomes.
Supportive Workplaces
Even while our young couples play their role in stepping up to their familial obligations, supportive workplaces are key in making this aspiration a reality.
Some single or older workers might be asked to cover for duties for their child-bearing colleagues.
Some employers have lamented where would the additional manpower come from.
These are valid concerns, but the low birth rate is a national collective issue.
I encourage companies to support our workers who would need to cover duties either with incentives or to hire additional manpower from the government payment.
Workplaces play a crucial role in creating a positive environment that supports the government’s family-friendly policies.
There will indeed be sacrifices from all quarters but we had also made it work, back then in the earlier years, when there were significantly more births.
Besides, without a supportive environment, some women, or men, might decide to leave the company. It is a good human capital practice to retain talent in the company by providing support to our young parents.
Legislatively, the Bill does much to ensure that fathers enjoy the benefits and protection arising from GPPL.
For example, the proposed amendments to Section 12H of the Bill introduces protection for an employee against dismissals during the period that such employee is taking the GPPL. Errant employers are liable to a fine not exceeding $5,000 and / or up to a 6-month term of imprisonment. I also note and support that the same protections are also now extended to parents on Adoption Leave.
Could the Ministry consider increasing the quantum of such fine to a fine not exceeding $10,000 for first-time offenders, across GPML, GPPL and AL?
I believe that by doing so, we would send a stronger signal towards the government’s stance on such dismissals. Over time, together with the upcoming Workplace Fairness Legislation which will strengthen protections for employees with caregiving responsibilities against discrimination for all employment decisions, this will help to normalise the role of fathers in shouldering caregiving responsibilities.
However, whilst such protection does provide some comfort to employees, some workers, especially fathers, may still hesitate to fully utilise their entitlement due to workplace cultures that may subtly discourage long absences.
This is where inclusive workplace cultures become paramount.
I would like to encourage employers to embrace family-friendly policies and consider a broader and deeper adoption of the Flexible Work Arrangement for employees to allow them to shoulder both their work and familial responsibilities.
From a business standpoint, the concerns of employers are real.
Yet. studies have also demonstrated that supportive and family-oriented workplace policies enhance job satisfaction and may even enhance profitability1.
I do acknowledge that our SMEs may face operational constraints in complying with the new legislation, and I would like to urge the Ministry to continue to study the constraints faced by SMEs and help our SMEs adopt inclusive workplace policies.
The Labour Movement stands ready to assist the Ministry on this front.
Closing the Gender Pay Gap
Next, on closing the gender pay gap. The Bill before us today goes beyond addressing shared caregiving responsibilities alone.
It can be a meaningful step towards narrowing the gender pay gap, and improving the labour participation rates of women.
I have spoken on various occasions on the importance of closing the gender pay gap in Singapore.
The gender pay gap has been attributed to the fact that women shoulder a disproportionate burden of caregiving responsibilities, which in turn causes them to fall behind in the workplace. The time away from work can cause our women to lose out on work and wage progression.
Whilst we have made significant progress in the past decade to narrow our gender pay gap, more must be done.
With the renewed GPPL aimed at redistributing caregiving responsibilities more equitably at the start of a child’s life, I hope that this shared commitment between couples would endure during the child’s formative years.
In turn, we can change the outdated notions of the roles of men and women in the family and level the playing field between genders in the long run.
It is also worth noting that this Bill will likely have a positive, long-term effect on the next generation of Singaporeans. I am hopeful that children who grow up seeing both parents share caregiving responsibilities will thereafter carry these norms into their own lives when they start their own families in the future.
Conclusion
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Bill before us today is not just a routine Bill. It is a call to action for us all.
For fathers, it is an invitation to play larger roles in parenting.
For workplaces, it is a call for stakeholders to cultivate a supportive environment that is understanding of the dual responsibilities of both mothers and fathers.
For society, Singapore at large, it is a reminder that gender equality is not just an issue women should care about, but instead, a social imperative for our society to flourish.
Let us work together as a nation to champion supportive workplaces, encourage families for life, and pave a way for a future where Singapore’s sons and daughters live in a society that values their contributions equally.
Mr. Speaker, I support the Bill.
