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Oral Answer by Minister of State Ms Gan Siow Huang to PQ on Caregivers outside Labour Force

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NOTICE PAPER NO. 223 OF 2021 FOR A SITTING ON 1 FEBRUARY 2021

 

QUESTIONS NO. 531 FOR ORAL ANSWER

 

MP: Ms Carrie Tan

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) for each year from 2015 to 2019, how many persons, disaggregated by age and gender, who are outside of the labour force, cite care for their own children as the main reason for being outside of the labour force; and (b) how many months on average these persons remain outside of the labour force.

 

NOTICE PAPER NO. 223 OF 2021 FOR A SITTING ON 1 FEBRUARY 2021

 

QUESTIONS NO. 532 FOR ORAL ANSWER

 

MP: Ms Carrie Tan

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) for each year from 2015 to 2019, how many persons, disaggregated by age and gender, who are outside of the labour force, cite care for their elderly parents as the main reason for being outside of the labour force; and (b) how many months on average these persons remain outside of the labour force.

 

  1. Ms Carrie Tan asked about individuals outside of the labour force who cite care for their own children or care for elderly parents as the main reason for doing so.

     

  2. Data from the annual Comprehensive Labour Force Survey shows that in 2018, 144,100 or 4.3% of the resident population cited broader caregiving responsibilities as the main reason. Among these, 55,300 were providing care for own children. There was a slight reduction in 2019, to 133,500 and 52,900 respectively. Around 9 in 10 residents who cited caregiving as their main reason were females, and about 9 in 10 of these residents were in their 30s or over. Data collected prior to 2018 are not directly comparable due to different survey questions being asked.

     

  3. For those who cited caregiving for own children in 2018 and 2019, the median number of years since their last job was about 4 to 5 years. For those who cited caregiving for family members or relatives, the median number of years was 8.

     

  4. Overall, the resident female employment rate in Singapore is high and rising. In 2019, the overall resident employment rate for females aged 25 to 64 was at 73.3%, which is above the OCED average of 66.3%. This has improved from 70.5% in 2014. Support for caregivers has also been enhanced. For families with young children, we have increased the accessibility and affordability of preschool services. Since 2012, we have doubled full-day preschool capacity to more than 180,000 places today. We also recently enhanced means-tested preschool subsidies so that more families pay less for preschool. Through the Caregiver Support Action Plan that was announced in 2019, we have also strengthened other areas of support for caregivers of seniors. There is also a range of home and community care options to help support the care and social needs of their elderly loved ones when they are at work.