SINGAPORE – The introduction of 10 weeks of shared parental leave is part of larger moves to create a more family-friendly Singapore, and a shift away from past policies to directly incentivise procreation, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
This is because marriage and parenthood are deeply personal choices, and people have to find their own balance between competing aspirations and goals, he said on Aug 23.
He noted that the Forward Singapore exercise had spotlighted areas of concern for many young parents and families, such as pre-school and education, and a desire to spend time with their children when they are infants.
“It’s less of the perhaps older, previous approach, where it’s incentives for babies,” he said. “But rather than direct incentives towards procreation per se... we can use these resources to create a more family-friendly environment in general.”
Mr Wong, who is also Finance Minister, took over as Singapore’s fourth head of government on May 15, which makes Aug 22 100 days since he took over the leadership reins.
At his maiden National Day Rally (NDR) speech on Aug 18, PM Wong had called for a major reset to both policies and attitudes in order to realise new ambitions, such as for everyone to thrive and flourish on their own terms.
Among his major announcements are a new shared parental leave scheme, to be paid for by the Government. By April 2026, new parents will get 10 additional weeks of shared leave, which will bring parental leave to a total of 30 weeks, or 7½ months.
Other changes unveiled at the NDR include the discontinuation of the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) in its current form.
PM Wong said on Aug 23 that this wider policy approach to creating a family-friendly environment will include more help for larger families with three or more children, given that costs can pile up quickly for such households.
More details will be given at Budget 2025.
The aim is to, over time, have an environment where people will be motivated to settle down and have children, though that is a personal decision at the end of the day, PM Wong said.
Asked what policies will stay the same even as the Government is prepared to re-examine all assumptions, he drew a line between Singapore’s core principles and values, and government policy.
Important principles that will be upheld include meritocracy, multiracialism and incorruptibility, he said.
“These fundamental principles and values cannot be compromised. But how these principles are manifested in policies, well, you can have a debate,” he said. They include whether a policy is the best way to uphold meritocracy, or has perhaps inadvertently led to a sense of elitism or people feeling stressed, he added.
The biggest assumption, however, is that the good things in life will just fall into one’s lap and that everything is hunky-dory in Singapore, said PM Wong.
“It’s not so much to change for the sake of change alone, but to always have the perspective that some things can be improved,” he said.
“Yes there may be trade-offs, but perhaps circumstances have changed, perhaps conditions are different, perhaps Singaporeans’ appreciation of the trade-offs are different today.”
He reiterated the Government’s commitment to meeting the people’s aspirations of a refreshed Singapore Dream, where success is defined in more ways. These include ensuring viable pathways to success, whether in sports, the arts, or careers both conventional and unconventional, he said.
He noted that the entire sports ecosystem here is a lot more vibrant today, with not just more government support but also companies coming in to sponsor athletes, and to hire them after they have retired from their sporting careers.
“This is for sports, but we want that same conversation to happen in other fields too,” he said.
“So whether it’s in the arts, whether it’s in sports... whether it’s some young person who wants to do a start-up, whatever it is, we want to build a Singapore where everyone can realise their dreams.”
