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SINGAPORE: Parliament passed a law on Wednesday (Nov 13) to increase the amount of shared parental leave and mandatory paternity leave. 

During the debate, Members of Parliament (MPs) focused on how the increased leave entitlements may encourage more fathers to use their time off work to care for their children.

Some also asked for more childcare leave, while others urged for clear guidelines for employers.

In response, Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling said the amendments to the Child Development Co-Savings Act aimed to address such issues – from introducing employment protections to providing reassurance for parents to use their leave entitlements. 

She added that the government will continue to improve caregiving options to support parents but that employers should also implement family-friendly workplaces. 

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced during his National Day Rally speech in August that parents will get an additional 10 weeks of shared leave to care for their babies when a new scheme is fully implemented by Apr 1, 2026. 

WHAT IS THE BILL ABOUT

Introduced by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) in October, the Child Development Co-Savings (Amendment) Bill provided details on the new shared parental leave schemes as well as increased mandatory paternity leave. 

It also spelt out new employment protections as well as other operational and administrative changes.

The new shared parental leave scheme will replace the current scheme, which allows working mothers to share up to four weeks of their 16 weeks of government-paid maternity leave with their husbands. 

It will be rolled out in phases - starting from Apr 1 next year - to give employers time to adjust their operational and manpower arrangements.

The scheme will be rolled out in two phases:

• The parents of children born from Apr 1, 2025, will be entitled to 6 weeks of shared parental leave. 
• Those whose children are born from Apr 1, 2026, will be entitled to the full 10 weeks of parental leave. 

Mandatory paternity leave entitlement will also double, with new fathers to get four weeks of government-paid paternity leave from April next year.

Currently, fathers are entitled to two weeks of government-paid paternity leave and can take an additional two weeks only if their employers allow them to do so.

The Bill introduced a four-week minimum notice period for employees who wish to take their parental leave in a continuous block to give employers time to plan for covering arrangements and make operational adjustments. 

Employment protection will also be extended to fathers and adoptive parents who take government-paid paternity leave and adoption leave from Apr 1 next year. 

Currently, it is unlawful for an employer to dismiss or give a notice of dismissal to a female employee when she is on maternity leave. 

IMPROVING TAKE UP RATES

While MPs welcomed the Bill, some raised concerns about whether new fathers would fully utilise their increased paternity leave and whether more could be done to encourage more equitable gender roles in parenting. 

Several MPs including Wan Rizal (PAP-Jalan Besar) and Louis Ng (PAP-Nee Soon) pointed out that many parents still feel apprehensive about using their leave entitlements due to fears about the impact on their careers. 

“This is especially true for new fathers who may worry that taking shared leave could signal less commitment to their roles, and for mothers, who may fear that extended leave could limit career opportunities,” said Dr Rizal. 

According to an MSF report published in July, around half of new fathers take government-paid paternity leave. 

MP Hany Soh (PAP-Marsiling-Yew Tee) proposed additional bonuses for fathers who used their parental leave while MP Louis Chua (WP-Sengkang) suggested paying employers only if new fathers take at least half of the mandatory four-week paternity leave and gradually increasing this over time. 

“This could further entrench the notion that paternal involvement is important and necessary, while taking into account employers’ concerns,” said Mr Chua.

Pointing out that maternity leave is four times that of paternity leave, MP Louis Ng (PAP-Nee Soon) said the big gap entrenched gender stereotypes and expressed hope that this will eventually be equalised. 

“This is an ambitious call but there are concrete steps we can take now. Let's start by setting a target year, perhaps 2030, or later, for equalising paternity and maternity leave,” he said. 

His comments prompted MP Jessica Tan (PAP-East Coast) to point out that maternity leave is not just about parenting and childcare but also about recovery from childbirth. 

MP Melvin Yong (PAP-Radin Mas) suggested staggering the amount of government-paid childcare leave, with more paid leave days provided to parents when the child is in infant care and nursery, and tapering off gradually as the child enters kindergarten and primary school. 

Currently, parents of Singaporean children aged below seven are entitled to up to six days of government-paid childcare leave, and two days of extended childcare leave, for those with primary school children.

“Having more paid childcare leave when the child is youngest and requires the most care, will certainly go a long way in helping parents cope with the inevitable childcare challenges in their children’s early years,” he said. 

GREATER ASSURANCE TO USE LEAVE

Responding to questions about the uptake of paternity leave, Ms Sun said the additional employment protections in the Bill aim to give new fathers greater assurance and peace of mind to use their leave entitlements. 

“Mothers are currently protected against dismissals when they are on maternity leave. By extending the same protection to fathers who are on paternity leave, we want to send a strong signal to employers that it is important for them to also support their male employees to take parental leave beside their female employees,” she said, adding that the same protection will be extended to adoptive parents. 

Turning to MPs’ calls to increase childcare leave, especially for parents with more children, Ms Sun said there needs to be a “fine balance” between the caregiving needs of parents and the manpower and operational needs of employers. 

“We also need to provide employers with some time to adjust to the significant increases in overall parental leave provisions with the introduction of the new shared parental leave scheme,” she said. 

Addressing MP Louis Ng’s call to equalise maternity and paternity leave, Ms Sun said maternity leave is longer to give mothers time to recuperate physically after childbirth. 

“Although the duration of maternity and paternity leave differs, the government has been mindful about the importance of encouraging shared parental responsibility, and we can see from the progressive rounds of enhancements in recent years that they have focused mainly on increasing paternity leave,” she added. 

Echoing the sentiments of MP Mariam Jaafar (PAP-Sembawang) on the need for a “systemic cultural shift”, Ms Sun said workplaces need to be supportive in allowing fathers to take leave to bond and care for their newborns. 

“Encouraging greater paternal involvement and shared parental responsibilities require mindset shifts in our society. Workplaces with supportive supervisors and co-workers can make a huge difference”, she said. 

Ms Sun added that the government will continue working with tripartite partners and community partners to encourage employers to foster family-friendly workplaces. 

“I urge supervisors to be supportive when their employees apply for paternity leave, and hope their co-workers will be understanding and help to cover their colleagues who take time off work to care for their children.”