Data on Leave Days taken by Parents Due to Childcare Centre Closures or Children Falling Ill

Ms Valerie Lee asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) whether the Ministry has conducted studies on the number of leave days taken by parents with children under seven due to childcare centre closures or their children falling ill; and (b) if so, whether such leave usage frequently exceeds the current enhanced childcare leave entitlement.

A working parent with a Singaporean child under the age of seven has six days of Government-Paid Childcare Leave (GPCL) a year. This means that a working couple has a total of 12 days of GPCL to care for their child, on top of their annual leave provisions. The Government does not track the reasons for which parents take GPCL, and we do not have data on whether the leave usage of parents due to childcare centre closures or their children falling ill exceeds the current GPCL entitlements.

As employers only claim reimbursement for those who take more than three days of GPCL, we only have data for this group of parents. In 2023, the proportion of eligible working mothers and fathers who took more than three days of GPCL was 58% and 53%, respectively. Of this group, the vast majority of mothers and fathers took all six days of GPCL each. Data for 2024 is not yet available.

Beyond parental leave provisions, the Government has also introduced the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Requests, which parents can tap on to manage their work and child caregiving responsibilities. We will continue to review our parental leave provisions and work with Tripartite Partners to foster more family-friendly workplaces.