• Changes confer more benefits to parents who are not in regular employment, or were retrenched or are newly employed close to the birth of their child
• Another change entitles working parents of a stillborn child to birth-linked Government-paid leave and benefits schemes
• MPs raised suggestions for what more could be done to encourage parenthood

SINGAPORE — Parliament on Monday (Aug 2) passed a Bill to help more working parents — including those who are not in regular employment or are new staff — benefit from pro-family policies at the workplace.

With the passing of the Child Development Co-Savings (Amendment) Bill, parents of stillborn children will also get more support, qualifying for maternity and paternity leave and benefits, as well as shared parental leave.

The Child Development Co-Savings Act (CDCA) was first introduced in 2001 to encourage married individuals in Singapore to have more children, and to facilitate the provision of cash grants and other forms of support for the development of a child.

With various policy reviews over the years, working couples can now take up to nearly 20 weeks of paid parental leave in a child’s first year, comprising 16 weeks of maternity leave, two weeks of paternity leave as well as six days of childcare leave per parent.

The Act’s last amendment was in 2017, when the authorities made it mandatory for employers to grant two weeks of paternity leave and increased shared parental leave from one week to up to four weeks.

OVERVIEW OF KEY CHANGES

The latest round of amendments includes the following changes:

• Government-paid paternity and adoption benefits

Some working fathers and adoptive mothers currently do not qualify for paternity leave or adoptive leave as they may be on multiple short-term contracts, or their contracts could expire shortly before the birth or adoption of their child.

There are now provisions, under new Government-paid paternity and adoption benefits schemes, to ensure that these parents can qualify for the benefits.

In lieu of the Government-paid portion of paternity leave or adoption leave, parents can also receive a cash benefit — calculated based on the average income earned in the 12 months before the child was born or adopted. As such, parents who work for longer periods will receive a higher benefit.

To qualify for the cash payout, which for fathers is capped at S$2,500 per week inclusive of Central Provident Fund contributions, the parent must have worked as an employee or self-employed person, or both, for at least 90 days in the 12-month period.

Adoptive mothers can receive cash benefits equivalent to eight or 12 weeks of maternity leave, with reimbursements capped at S$20,000 or S$30,000, depending on how many children they have.

Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling said in Parliament on Monday that a father can be eligible for the new scheme if his child’s date of birth or estimated date of delivery is on or after Jan 1 this year.

Adoptive parents are also eligible if their application to adopt a child is submitted to the court on or after Jan 1. In the case of a foreign child, the authorities will refer to the date on which the dependent’s pass is issued, she added.

But as further amendments need to be made to subsidiary legislation to set the schemes afoot, those eligible – estimated to number about 500 – may apply for them only from Dec 1.

• Assisting parents whose contracts expire, or who are retrenched

Working fathers and adoptive mothers who may have started their paternal or adoptive leave but could not consume all of it before their contract expired due to the lack of time will be able to get cash benefits by the Government for the remaining Government-paid portion of leave, as is already the case for mothers in the same situation.

This will also be allowed for retrenched parents who did not manage to take their leave.

Ms Sun said the latter change will help provide greater assurances to retrenched parents as their situation is “beyond their control”.

• Supporting parents of stillborn children

The passed Bill now entitles working parents of a stillborn child — to be defined as a child birthed after the 22nd week of pregnancy who would have been a Singapore citizen — to birth-linked Government-paid leave and benefits schemes.

This came as “parents of stillborn children need to recover physically and emotionally, and this move can help them in these difficult times”, Ms Sun said.

A clause also allows for stillborn children or deceased children to be counted towards the number of children a mother has had. This will affect the benefits a mother can have under certain schemes that are currently dependent on the number of live citizens she has.

• Reimbursement to employers who voluntarily grant leave to employees for parental leave schemes

There are now provisions to also give the Government the discretion to reimburse employers if they grant paid maternity leave, paternity leave and adoption leave, although their employees have not worked at least three months continuously before their child is born or adopted – one of the eligibility criteria under the CDCA.

Ms Sun said this change is to recognise that “progressive employers” play an important part in helping working parents, who are new to their companies.

• Disqualify fathers from paid childcare leave and unpaid infant care leave, in respect of children born from extramarital affairs

The authorities found that parents could consume childcare leave and unpaid infant care leave with respect to children born as a result of extramarital affairs, but it was not the Government’s policy intent to condone extramarital affairs, Ms Sun pointed out.

So the Bill corrected this by disqualifying married and unwed fathers from paid childcare leave and unpaid infant care leave under the CDCA, with respect to children born from extramarital affairs.

But if the birth parents subsequently marry, the father will become eligible for childcare leave in respect of the child, Ms Sun said.

SUGGESTIONS

When debating the Bill on Monday, a number of Members of Parliament (MPs) raised suggestions on what else can be done to help parents.

MP for Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC) Joan Pereira asked for more benefits to be given to parents of twins or triplets, pointing out that those who give birth to multiple babies at a go don’t get double or additional benefits.

Nee Soon GRC MP Louis Ng called for single unwed parents to be allowed to qualify for the cash component of the Baby Bonus.

In addition, Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Gan Thiam Poh asked if the requirement of at least three months of work records for parental benefits should be waived for parents who are full-time homemakers, adding: “We should recognise that being a homemaker is a job in itself.”

In response to Mr Ng’s suggestion to further help single unwed parents, Ms Sun said that a “whole series of benefits”, including caregiving support, have been equalised for children of both unwed as well as wedded parents.

“I hope that we can look at this holistically, but again, as I said, we constantly review our marriage and parenthood packages and we’ll continue to do so,” she added.

To Mr Gan’s suggestion, Ms Sun said that leave and benefits schemes are meant to support working parents in managing their work and caregiving responsibilities without having to leave the workforce.

To value the contribution of stay-at-home parents, other support schemes that are not dependent on the parents’ working status are in place, she said, citing the Baby Bonus scheme, the MediSave grant for newborns and the foreign domestic worker levy concession.

As for Ms Pereira’s suggestion, Ms Sun said that any increase in leave provisions has to be considered carefully, especially in periods of business uncertainty.

She added: “A practical approach must be taken and we have to be mindful that we do not inadvertently affect parents' employability if they are absent from work for an extended period of time.

“Employers face manpower and operational demands, and these must be calibrated alongside the need to support working parents.”