In response to Labour MP Yeo Guat Kwang’s question on the trend of the retirement age in Singapore over the past five years, Acting Minister for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin said that over the past five years, the labour force participation rate (LFPR) of residents aged 55 to 64 increased from 58.6 per cent in 2007 to a new high of 66 per cent in 2012. “The vast majority of our economically active residents aged 55 to 64 were employed, as the unemployment rate for residents in this age group was only 2.4 per cent, compared with the overall rate of 2.8 per cent in 2012.”
He added Singapore has one of the highest LFPR for older males, but we are behind Japan and Sweden; and our LFPR among older females still lags behind many developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Japan and South Korea.
When queried about promoting flexible work arrangements to help individuals return to the workforce, Acting Minister Tan said that the Government has put in place a range of initiatives such as WorkPro. “We are heartened that there is a rising trend of employers offering flexible work arrangements to their employees. In 2012, 41 per cent of establishments offered at least one form of work-life arrangement to their employees, up from 25 per cent in 2007,” Acting Minister Tan said.
The Government will continue to work closely with the tripartite partners to facilitate the gainful employment of back-to-work individuals on flexible work arrangements or otherwise. Parliament also passed the Child Development Co-Savings (Amendment) Bill 2013, which gives effect to some of the measures under the Marriage and Parenthood Package such as the enhanced maternity benefits and new parental leave schemes.
The Bill introduces new leave benefits in the form of paternity leave and shared parental leave. Existing childcare leave and adoption leave are also enhanced to better help working parents manage work and family commitments.
To further support working mothers, maternity benefits will be enhanced and protection for working mothers against dismissal without sufficient cause and retrenchment is extended to cover the full term of pregnancy.
Acting Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing said that encouraging marriage and parenthood is something that cannot be accomplished by Government legislations alone. He said: “Let me conclude by urging employers and the community not only to embrace the new measures, but also to do their own part to create a more positive environment for marriage, parenthood and family life.”
