Increasing Childcare Leave for Parents to Match Additional Number of Preschool Holidays

Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Social and Family Development in view that preschools will have two additional days of holidays from 2024, whether the Ministry will consider increasing the childcare leave for parents by two more days.

The Member is mistaken that there are two additional days of preschool closures from 2024. Previously, all preschools were allowed to close 7.5 days per year – six closure days and three half-days on the eves of selected public holidays. Starting from 2024, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has renamed the six closure days as Development Days and designated two days – Teachers’ Day and Children’s Day – as preschool holidays as part of the ongoing efforts to improve educators’ working conditions. In other words, there has been a net increase of 0.5 days of pre-school closure.

At present, each working parent whose youngest child is below seven years old already enjoys six days of paid Childcare Leave per year. Hence, both working parents would have a total of 12 days of Childcare leave to tap on for preschool closure days, on top of their annual leave provisions.

Beyond legislated leave, it is more important and sustainable for employers to provide a family-friendly work environment to help parents manage both their work and caregiving responsibilities, such as through providing flexible work arrangements. This is already happening, through the efforts of the tripartite partners, and we expect such practices to become more widespread.

Following the Forward SG exercise, we continue to work closely with the Tripartite Partners to promote family-friendly workplace practices to better support working parents in their caregiving needs. With strong support at the workplaces and in the community, we will build a Singapore Made For Families.