Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim on supporting Singaporeans in starting and raising families
Fathers play a critical role in a child’s development, but traditional gender roles and workplace cultures often limit their ability to participate fully in child-raising, said MP Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim in Parliament on Wednesday (Feb 5). He offered a slew of proposals aimed at changing mindsets at work, at home and in society. They included making paternity leave mandatory and rewarding employers with tax incentives or increased short-term foreign manpower quota in certain sectors, expanding childcare leave further to the age of 12 to cover almost all primary school children, having a higher childcare leave entitlement for parents with two or more kids, increasing legal protection against discrimination for fathers who take leave or request flexible work arrangements, encouraging couples to share parental leave equitably, and enhancing support for fathers through community engagement and resources.
Fathers play a critical role in a child’s development, but traditional gender roles and workplace cultures often limit their ability to participate fully in child-raising, said MP Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim in Parliament on Wednesday (Feb 5). He offered a slew of proposals aimed at changing mindsets at work, at home and in society. They included making paternity leave mandatory and rewarding employers with tax incentives or increased short-term foreign manpower quota in certain sectors, expanding childcare leave further to the age of 12 to cover almost all primary school children, having a higher childcare leave entitlement for parents with two or more kids, increasing legal protection against discrimination for fathers who take leave or request flexible work arrangements, encouraging couples to share parental leave equitably, and enhancing support for fathers through community engagement and resources.