Speech at the Second Reading of Child Development Co-Savings (Amendment) Bill by Jean See, NTUC Director of Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit on 18 Sep 2023

Building an equal and empathetic society through inclusive support for organisations and working caregivers

Mr Speaker, I declare my interest as a representative of the Labour Movement.

I count myself lucky to be a Singaporean.

Did you know? Singapore ranks as one of the best countries in the world to live in for a woman. We advocate equal rights for women and men, at work and at home. In this regard, I thank the Minister for Social and Family Development for the Child Development Co-savings (Amendments) Bill.
The Bill is progressive and empowering. Yet, it could be more encompassing. We can do more to advance gender equality and empathy for working caregivers, at three levels - government, organisation, and the individual.

First, at the government level.

When his newborn arrives on or after 1 January 2024, a self-employed man can count on the government for paid paternity leave of 24 days or 6 days a week for a 4-week period of lost income. Yet, this troubles the self-employed private hire car driver or hawker. Why is this so?

Regardless of the circumstance, the self-employed private hire car driver or hawker must pay rent for his car or hawker stall, 7 days a week. And rent is a significant expense.

Likely, he must dip into his savings to cover rent, other expenses, and lost income. This is a tall order for many self-employed persons. The Institute of Policy Studies found that more than 6 in 10 private hire car drivers would fall into prolonged financial hardship if they stopped working today ¹ .

A self-employed driver or hawker thus hopes the Government can adjust the calculation of paid paternity leave, from 24 days to 28 days. Doing so would allow the self-employed person to whole-heartedly embrace his duties as a supportive spouse, and father to a newborn. Therefore, could the Minister consider providing paid paternity leave to the self employed father for the full 4-week period of lost income?

Second, at the organisation level.

Employees’ expectations of work and work-life balance have changed. Staffing is leaner, families are smaller. Many individuals are doing more. They take on multiple responsibilities at work and juggle various caregiving roles at home.

Employees thus seek balance and fulfilment. Even as organisations pursue rejuvenation and growth. Bosses must therefore lead with new lenses. They must also evolve structures, policies, and processes to meet changing aspirations.

Imagine these possibilities:

Structures that make work schedules and backups predictable?
a. They give employees the leeway to balance dynamic family and work needs.
Policies that facilitate time and work flexibility?
b. They allow employees to prioritise tasks and manage deadlines.
Work processes that accommodate both organisation and employees’ needs?
c. They empower managers to be empathetic, and employees, especially frontliners, to be comfortable about making time for themselves and their families.

And like getting organisations onboard digital solutions, we can transform these possibilities into reality. We can expect forward-looking organisations to turn to the Government for guidance and resources to create family-supportive workplaces. These organisations are keen because they know their employees want to be empowered as professionals and supported as breadwinners and caregivers. Could the Government consider helping these organisations to create work environments supportive of caregivers in their workforce?

Last, at the individual level.

Singapore’s old-age support ratio declined to 3.8 in 2022. This means that 3.8 working-age people of ages 20-64 are providing economic support to a dependent who is aged 65 years or older. Compare this with 10 years ago, when nearly two times more working age people were supporting a mature dependent. ² .

As society ages and family units shrink, every working person matters more so than ever.

Women are especially taxed. Duke-NUS’s Centre for Ageing Research and Education found that women made up 3 in 4 of the 278 caregivers in their study ³ . Many of us might know of women in our networks who had to give up their careers to become full-time caregivers because they felt that support is lacking. This is regrettable.

Could the government consider expanding caregiving support to cater for more types of caregiving needs? For instance, caregiving-related leave would benefit workers, especially those in frontline roles. I recall negotiating for urgent leave on behalf of a union member. She was a retail assistant who had to leave work halfway because an older family member suddenly took ill. It was a trying ordeal for her and me. She was also stressed from having to offset the urgent leave from her meagre balance of earned leave. Caregiving leave would have been a more direct way for her and her frontline colleagues to respond to urgent family needs.

Organisations that establish flexible work and family-supportive policies would welcome more recognition and support. These encourage their employees who are caregivers to stay on in the workforce. Women, especially, would feel more supported.

A monologue from the recent movie, “Barbie”, took the world by storm because it shone a light on the unrealistic expectations that women are held to. I quote a memorable line proclaims that women “have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people.” How true that is!

Conclusion

Mr Speaker, the Child Development Co-savings (Amendments) Bill affirms equality as a reality. It could be enhanced by providing a differentiated approach for self-employed fathers. For self-employed parents, they hope to be granted government-paid paternity or maternity leave that is calculated using a weekly index of 7 days. They also hope that the government could consider disbursing the claim amount at the start of the paternity or maternity leave period than after the leave period has concluded. Disbursing at the outset of the leave period would help to alleviate the financial strain on the self-employed person during this period of lost income.

Organisations play a role in supporting employees’ use of the enhanced leaves set out in this Bill and the Child Development Co-savings Act. Organisations could benefit from more recognition and support to develop and sustain family-supportive workplaces.

More important, the Bill sets the stage for the government to consider introducing a broader spectrum of caregiving support.

Establishing caregiving support as a norm in workplaces dignifies caregiving and caregivers. It lays the foundation for an inclusive workforce and strengthens the resolve of workers to cope. It makes for equal and empathetic workplaces, and a kinder society.

With this, Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the Bill.