NEW parents of Singaporean children will get an extra 10 weeks of government-paid leave to share, on top of existing mandatory parental leave, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said at his first National Day Rally on Sunday (Aug 18).
This will be implemented in two phases: six weeks of shared leave for parents of babies born from Apr 1, 2025, followed by the full 10-week entitlement for parents of babies born from Apr 1, 2026.
From Apr 1, 2025, it will also be mandatory for employers to grant four weeks of paid paternity leave.
While some people still think of mothers as “the main caregivers”, this must change, said PM Wong.
“Women these days have every opportunity to excel in their careers,” he said. “It is not possible for them to pursue their goals, and still carry a heavier share of the caregiving and housework responsibilities. So fathers must play a bigger role.”
With these changes, eligible parents of Singaporean children will be entitled to a shared total of 30 weeks of mandatory paid parental leave, up from 18 weeks now. About 30,000 Singaporeans are born each year.
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To help employers, there will be a new notice requirement, said the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) in a release. Parents will have to give at least four weeks’ notice before taking any government-paid parental leave.
Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) executive director Sim Gim Guan said: “Given our tight manpower situation, employers – especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – will face operational challenges as new parents take more time away from work.”
Lee Tuck Wai, chair of the Association of SMEs’ Human Capital Action Group, highlighted “potential added costs, including finding replacements, training, and managing off-boarding and on-boarding”.
Both Sim and Lee agreed that the phased implementation of shared parental leave and the minimum notification period will give businesses time to adjust.
Sim added that SNEF is also continuing to work with the government “to explore how affected employers can be better supported, even as they do their part to support their employees”.
Separately, there will be a new scheme for large families, giving more support to parents having a third child and those who already have three or more young children. PM Wong said he hoped to share details of this in Budget 2025.
More parental leave
The government already pays for up to four weeks of paternity leave: two mandatory weeks and – since Jan 1, 2024 – two additional weeks that employers can choose to offer. From Apr 1, 2025, the two extra weeks will become mandatory.
Meanwhile, a working mother is entitled to 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, of which four weeks can be shared with her husband. This sharing arrangement will be replaced by the new shared parental leave scheme.
By default, the extra weeks will be distributed equally: three weeks per parent, for children born from Apr 1, 2025; then five weeks each, for children born on or after Apr 1, 2026. This also applies to babies with an estimated date of delivery on or after the relevant dates, even if they are born earlier.
However, parents can reallocate this entitlement between themselves, via the government’s LifeSG website or app. They can do so freely in the first four weeks after the child’s birth; after this, their employers’ consent is required.
The 10 weeks of leave will be paid by the government, capped at S$2,500 per week or S$10,000 per month.
After full implementation, the scheme is expected to cost around S$400 million per year “at steady state”, said a spokesperson from the NPTD.
The shared leave must be taken within the first 12 months after the child’s birth. If parents and employers cannot agree on leave dates, parents can take the leave as a continuous block within the first 26 weeks after the child’s birth, after consuming paid maternity or paternity leave.
Employers can check their employees’ leave-sharing arrangements on the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Government-Paid Leave Schemes portal.
Eligibility for the new scheme follows prevailing guidelines. For instance, it is available to non-citizen parents of Singaporean children. Unmarried mothers are entitled to the full 10 weeks; fathers are eligible only if they are legally married to the mother.
Self-employed parents and those with irregular employment arrangements – such as short-term contracts – can receive the new Shared Parental Leave Benefit. Instead of getting leave, they can claim government reimbursement for time taken off work to care for their infants, similar to existing maternity and paternity leave benefits.
Working with employers
While parents would like to spend more time with their children, employers are worried about “managing manpower gaps when their employees are away for an extended period”, noted PM Wong.
To give employers time to make covering arrangements and operational adjustments, employees will have to provide at least four weeks’ notice before taking any government-paid parental leave.
If such notice is not given, employers can refuse to grant the leave request if covering arrangements cannot be made in time. They may request that employees defer or change their leave plans.
The exception is paid maternity leave, which must start by the child’s birth date. Mothers who fail to provide sufficient notice cannot defer this. Instead, they are entitled to receive only half of their gross pay during maternity leave, unless there is a valid reason – such as a premature birth – for not giving sufficient notice.
“Notwithstanding the minimum notice period, parents should exercise responsibility and inform their employers as early as possible when they are expecting a child,” said NPTD in a release on Sunday.
In designing the changes, the government considered input from its tripartite partners: the National Trades Union Congress and SNEF.
Surveys show that “most young Singaporeans want to marry and have children”, but they may have competing aspirations such as establishing their careers, said PM Wong.
“What the government can and will do is to create a more family-friendly environment in Singapore. Hopefully, this will motivate more Singaporeans to translate their aspirations into reality.”
