Mdm Halimah Yacob, Assistant Secretary-General, NTUC,

Ms Diana Chia, Chairperson of NTUC Women’s Committee,

Mr Ong Ye Kung, Chief Executive, Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA),

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

Introduction

I am very happy to be here with you at the NTUC International Women’s Day Seminar. Next Wednesday, the 8^th of March, marks the International Women’s Day. It is an occasion for us to celebrate the progress that women have made and their contributions to the society. At the same time, it is also an opportune occasion for us to reflect on some of the challenges that women are still facing today.

Picture of Progress

2                    Women in Singapore have made great strides over the last decade. They are now better educated - 29% of females in the labour force had tertiary qualifications in 2004 compared to 14% in 1994. More are joining the workforce – the share of females in the labour force has increased from 40% in 1994 to 45% in 2004. More are climbing up the corporate ladder, in both public and private sectors. In 1994, about 1 in 4 corporate managers were women.  That rose to 1 in 3 in 2004. We have a growing number of prominent and successful women business leaders and CEOs - Jennie Chua, Olivia Lum and Loh Wai Kiew, just to name a few. We also now have four Permanent Secretaries in the civil service who are women.  Even in the political arena, there are 10 elected woman MPs, more than twice the number 5 years ago.  In addition, we have 3 nominated woman MPs.  

Challenges Ahead

3                    However, we cannot take for granted the progress made by our women.  There are still some challenges faced by women in Singapore. 

4                    Firstly, we need to raise the participation rate of our women.  Working women face a great challenge to balance competing priorities of work and family.  Some are compelled to select one at the expense of the other. Our employment rates, across age groups and gender, reflect this challenge. The employment rate for males increases sharply as they enter the workforce after schooling, and remain high until age 54 before declining significantly. In contrast, the employment rate for women begins to decline soon after hitting the peak at the age group of 25 to 29, indicating that some women may have chosen to withdraw from the workforce, possibly to take care of the family.

5                    When we compare the participation of women in the workforce in various countries, different profiles emerge. In the United States, it is common for women to remain in the workforce throughout their child bearing and rearing years. Japan and Korea, on the other hand, exhibit an M-shaped employment rate.  Women withdraw from the workforce after marriage and childbirth but return to work after their children have grown up, giving rise to the second peak.

6                    Unlike Japan and Korea, we do not have this second employment peak where women return to work after their children grow up. This could be due to various reasons, including the preference of some women to stay at home to continue looking after the family. Some of those who want to return to the workforce might lack the relevant skills. As a result, the employment rate of older women aged 55 to 64 in Singapore is low at 30%, compared to countries such as Japan at 50%, Korea at 46% and the United States at 54%.

7                    A second challenge is the sizeable group of about 1 in 4 working women today, who are low wage workers earning less than $1,200 a month.  Many are above the age of 40, and have below secondary education.  They are vulnerable to the impact of from economic restructuring. Once retrenched, they will also have a great problem finding work again. They are a group that will need much help and support.  

Supporting Women Back To Work

8                    I am therefore pleased that NTUC has adopted the theme of “Getting Women Back to Work” for this seminar to create greater awareness on this issue. With women making up half the population, we need to tap on this significant pool of talent and human resources to support our economic growth. At the same time, work will provide income and enhance the financial security for women and their families.

9                    The Government recognises the challenges faced by women who are caregivers, in trying to return to work or just to stay in work. There are several initiatives that can help women return to work and raise their employment rate. Let me elaborate.

10               Under the new Work Support programme which is part of the Workfare package to help low wage workers, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) will be raising the childcare and student care subsidies so that mothers can afford to return to work, knowing that their children are well taken care of. 

11               Part-time and flexible work arrangements will allow women with care-giving responsibilities at home to be gainfully employed, because they can better balance their work and family needs. There are many examples of companies which provide flexible work arrangements. DBS Bank is one that offers part-time work for permanent staff. This scheme has helped the bank retain talented and productive workers, including many women. Sun Microsystems allows certain staff to telecommute, or work outside the office where this is practical. Employees have found this arrangement useful, including working mothers. Old Chang Kee introduced flexi-work hours for homemakers who needed to supplement household income but could only work certain hours.

12               There are two schemes which support companies in introducing flexible work arrangements. First, the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) has recently launched the ADVANTAGE! scheme to encourage and motivate employers to employ workers aged 40 and above. It has set aside $30 million over the next two years to implement the scheme. Under the scheme, companies can adopt key changes in their employment practices or operations to open up more opportunities for mature workers.  These could include automation, creation of jobs that leverage on mature workers’ unique strengths, and flexible work arrangements. 

13               Second, my Ministry also actively encourages employers to introduce work-life programmes to support employees with family responsibilities. An effective work-life strategy not only provides benefits for their employees, but will reap rewards for the company as well. It helps to optimise the performance of employees, both male and female, in the workplace. MOM established the $10 million Work-Life Works! (WoW!) Fund in 2004 to support companies in implementing new Work-Life initiatives. Other initiatives to help women include extended maternity leave and provision of childcare leave to encourage marriage and parenthood as well as support working parents.

14               To help women acquire the relevant skills to find work and upgrade, WDA funds training programmes in employability and industry-specific skills through its Employability Skills System (ESS) and Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) Framework.  It is also working with the NTUC to step up the Job Re-creation Programme (JRP) to re-create some 10,000 jobs a year.  Many of these redesigned jobs can go to women, as long as they are willing to undertake the skills training needed for these positions.

Conclusion

15               To raise the employment rate of women is not an easy task.  It requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders – employers, workers, unions and the Government.  It will take time.  However, I am confident that, if we work together, we can help more women to return to work and raise their employment rates.

16               May I wish you a fruitful sharing and discussion at today’s seminar. Thank you.