SINGAPORE: Nine years ago, Jonathan Ng quit his sales job to become the sole carer for his then five-year-old daughter, who is autistic and has an intellectual disability. For years, he relied on rental income from his home and the Agency for Integrated Care’s Home Caregiving Grant. The total totaled less than S$2,000 (US$1,500) per month.
Mr Ng, now in his early fifties, recently began teaching two classes at a private academy to supplement his income, earning up to S$70 per week. His job depends on bringing his now-14-year-old daughter to work with him, where she sits unobtrusively in his classes.
However, this arrangement was only made possible because his supervisor, who also has a child with special needs, advertised the position in a peer support chat group and was willing to accommodate his caregiving needs from the start.
Carers such as Mr Ng, mothers, and senior citizens are targeted by a new push to normalise flexible work arrangements so that more of them can enter or remain in Singapore’s labour force.
In 2023, 89,500 locals were unemployed, primarily due to caregiving responsibilities, accounting for approximately 8% of the local labour force. According to the Manpower Ministry’s labour force survey, most of them (86.3%) were female.
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