Steps Taken to Increase Variety of Part-time Work Options for Mothers Returning to Work

Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Manpower what steps are being taken to increase the variety of part-time work options for mothers who are wanting to return to work after having children.

Based on a 2016 Marriage and Parenthood survey conducted by the Prime Minister's Office, women with children below six years have strong preference for "full-time work with flexible work arrangements (FWAs)" rather than "part-time work"1. For every woman who would prefer part-time work, there are around two to three women who would prefer full-time work with FWAs.

The Government supports working mothers through (i) promoting FWAs, (ii) providing more affordable childcare support, and (iii) providing employment facilitation services including for part-time work.

Firstly, to encourage more companies to meet their employees' FWA needs, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) increased the Work-Life Grant budget from $30 million to $100 million, and will continue to actively promote the Tripartite Standard on FWAs with tripartite partners. Through the concerted efforts by tripartite partners, FWAs are now more common. More than nine in 10 employees today work in companies that provide some form of work flexibility2. Among those who need FWAs, more than eight in 10 employees have access to the FWA that they need3.

Secondly, the Government has also improved the accessibility, affordability and quality of pre-school services, to provide parents with greater assurance that their children are in good hands. We have doubled full-day pre-school capacity, from around 90,000 in 2012, to almost 180,000 places today. We will increase pre-school subsidies significantly from next year. These moves help working mothers4, including those on part-time work, as subsidies are provided for those who work at least 56 hours a month.

Thirdly, mothers who have left the workforce for longer periods of time may need additional help to find jobs, including part-time work options. To support the return of women back into the labour force, the Adapt and Grow initiative offers a suite of employment facilitation services and programmes to help jobseekers enter new jobs and overcome mismatches in skills, wages or job expectations. One of these programmes is Career Trial, which provides an opportunity for jobseekers and employers to try each other out and assess job fit. During the trial, which can be up to three months, jobseekers receive a training allowance from the Government. To allow those who prefer to work part-time to access more job opportunities, the Career Trial was enhanced in May this year to include part-time jobs. Jobseekers who need career assistance can visit WSG's Careers Connect and NTUC-Employment and Employability Institute's (NTUC-e2i's) career centres.