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Work life balance puts pressure on Singaporean family life
A series of public consultations have proven that barriers to marriage and parenthood in Singapore include difficulty in finding suitable partners, owning a home, financial security, work—life balance, and childcare arrangements. Various government bodies, including Singapore's National Population Secretariat, the National Family Council (NFC) and the Ministry of Manpower, conducted the studies.
The sessions were conducted from April to July and involved more than 300 participants. Singles cited difficulty in finding suitable partners, preferring to focus on their careers. Several of those in a serious relationship said they would only consider marriage when they have the ability to own a home. Married couples cited financial security, work—life balance and childcare arrangements as key considerations before embarking on parenthood.
There was a general consensus that it would be good for employers to put in place more family oriented measures. Lim Soon Hock, chairperson of NFC, said: "Work—life harmony is not about working shorter hours or longer hours, it's about flexi working time, which means that if a woman has to leave the office or a man has to leave the office, the employer must trust that the employee will carry out whatever work that he or she is supposed to do."
According to the government, there are no plans to legislate for family measures, but there are suggestions to make role models of companies with good practices. Another suggestion to help couples cope with high costs is to review the “Baby Bonus.” The scheme offers a cash payout of S$3,000 for the first child. This could go up to S$18,000 in cash and matching contributions for the third and fourth child. Some S$220 million worth of Baby Bonus was awarded last year.
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