Fathers encouraged to make more babies
Second week of paternity leave to be legislated, takes effect from 2017
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SINGAPORE: A second week of paternity leave will be legislated for fathers of Singapore citizen babies born from Jan 1, 2017, announced Senior Minister of State for the Prime Minister’s Office Josephine Teo on Wednesday (Apr 13).
Shared parental leave will also be increased from one to four weeks for children born from Jul 1, 2017, with this month of leave to be shared from the mother’s maternity leave.
Including six days of childcare leave and one week of unpaid infant care leave, fathers will be able to take up to two months of leave within the baby’s first year.
Additionally, adoption leave for mothers will be upped from four to 12 weeks for infants below one year old, effective for children adopted from Jul 1, 2017 onwards. Adoptive fathers will similarly share four weeks of the mother’s adoption leave.
The Government will fully fund the enhancements to the paternity and shared parental leave. For adoption leave, the Government will fund eight weeks and employers will fund four weeks for the first two children. The Government will fund the full 12 weeks for the third and subsequent children.
“We have timed this round of leave enhancements to give employers some time to adjust and plan,” said Mrs Teo. “We hope employers that are in a position to do so, start to extend paternity leave even before legislation kicks in so that parents of children born earlier can also benefit.
“As I shared earlier, the extra benefits should be thought of as important signals to your employees about your commitment towards family-friendly practices.”