rate of uptake of parent‑care leave the public and private sectors from 2014 to 2016

Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on the rate of uptake of parent-care leave the public and private sectors from 2014 to 2016

Parliamentary Sitting: 11 September 2017

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Prime Minister (a) what is the rate of uptake of parent-care leave by public servants for each year in the past three years; and (b) what is the number of private companies that currently offer parent-care leave.

Written Reply by Mr Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister in charge of the Civil Service.

Civil servants can take up to two days of parent-care leave a year. In the past three years, 39% (2014), 40% (2015), and 42% (2016) of civil servants took parent-care leave.

Parent-care leave is not legislated. Based on a Ministry of Manpower survey in 2016, only 19% of employers offer parent-care leave.