NTUC WDS (NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat) commissioned a survey with over 1,200 men and women to find out the needs of women so as to increase their participation in the workforce. This will enable them to better understand men and women with family care responsibilities in order to plan more effective strategies for women to contribute to the workforce as well as help them balance their roles as wife, mother and employee. Flexible work arrangements emerged as the most desirable form of support organisations can provide while spousal support is key for women wanting a career.
Respondents’ profile
Singaporeans and Permanent Residents aged between 30 and 55-years-old; working married men and women from households with at least one child below the age of 17 or a family member who needs care.
• Female PMETs (44 per cent or 529)
• Female rank-and-file (30 per cent or 366)
• Male (26 per cent or 319)
Key findings
• Women’s expectations
Women have higher expectations of themselves as caregivers and are more likely to give up their careers to take care of the family.
• Organisation Support
(a) Work affects family more than family affects work. When work is increased, it causes stress among family members. When it reaches the critical level, and no other options are available, women may stop work to care for their dependents on a full time basis.
(b) Supervisory attributes 70 per cent of employees’ satisfaction with organisational support.
A little over half of all respondents agree that their supervisor understands their family care needs but less than half felt that their supervisors helped by allowing for flexibility or showing concern for their family’s well being.
Having flexible work arrangements was perceived to be the most desired form of organisational support for women. Female PMETs felt that flexibility in work place and work time was the most important while female rank-and-file preferred a compressed work week and a flexible work place.
• Spousal Support
Majority (85 per cent) of all respondents feel that spousal support is crucial for women to have a career.
(a) Physical support
On a weekly basis, women spending more time on family care than men - 24.6 hours (female PMETs) and 22.3 hours (female rank-and-file) compared to 16.1 hours (male).
(b) Emotional support
Men feel more understood by their wives - 77.8 per cent - than wives by their husbands (female PMETs, 70.9 per cent; female rank-and-file, 65.4 per cent).
