Mr Louis Ng (Nee Soon GRC) recommended the extension of paid paternity and maternity leave for new parents of premature or multiple babies.
Mr Ng said parents of multiple babies are “more likely to have less sleep” due to the babies’ different sleep cycles. He added that many countries offer extended parental leave to parents of multiple babies.
Responding to his adjournment motion, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Josephine Teo, who oversees population matters, said the Government will consider the suggestion to give such parents additional parental leave. But she added that parental leave provisions here were only recently enhanced and employers needed time to adjust before further legislative changes are considered.
Just this year, fathers were given an additional week of paternity leave, bringing it to two weeks, and they are now also allowed to share up to four weeks of their wives’ maternity leave.
Pointing to an ongoing three-year pilot within the public sector, which gives parents of infants an additional four weeks of unpaid leave, Ms Teo said the Government will evaluate if this should be rolled out on a nationwide basis after the pilot ends in 2020.
She added that Singapore has other measures to support parents, such as the Baby Bonus cash gift and Child Development Account co-savings, and the Work-Life Grant which supports flexible work arrangements.
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Source: The Straits Times, 2 August 2017