Paternity leave might be increased

This article is more than 12 months old

Feb 06, 2016 06:00 am

Fathers may soon get more time with their newborns. The second week of paternity leave, now voluntary for employers, may be made compulsory.

The Government is also looking at letting working mothers share more of their four-month paid maternity leave with their husbands. They can now share only one of the 16 weeks of this leave with their husbands, reported The Straits Times Online.

These possible changes to the law to help new fathers play a bigger role are being considered to help lift Singapore's birth rates, Senior Minister of State Josephine Teo, who oversees population matters, said yesterday in a Facebook post.

She noted that every year, twice as many women take up paid maternity leave as there are men taking up paternity leave.