PART-TIME WORK FOR WOMEN

2. To ask the Minister for Labour whether it is possible to encourage greater adoption of part-time work for women in light of the need for more workers in Singapore as well as women's family responsibilities.

Mr John De Payva (Nominated Member): Question No. 1, Sir.

The Minister for Labour (Dr Lee Boon Yang): Mr Speaker, Sir, with your permission, may I take both Question Nos. 1 and 2 together since they are both related.

Mr Speaker: Yes, you may.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Sir, as at June 1996, 59,000 or 3.4% of employed persons were working part-time. Part-time workers refer to persons whose regular working hours are less than 30 hours per week, including those who work on a flexi-time basis. Two-thirds or 39,700 of the part-time workers are females. This constitutes 5.5% of the female workforce. The percentage of women working part-time has not increased significantly in recent years.

Sir, the percentage of women in part-time employment in Singapore is lower than that of the developed countries. My Ministry encourages employers to provide more part-time employment and flexi-work to attract the economically inactive, particularly housewives, to return to the workforce. Part-time and flexible work arrangements would enable housewives to balance work with domestic commitments. The promotion of part-time and flexi-work is therefore the main thrust of the "Back to Work" Programme launched recently by my Ministry, the Productivity and Standards Board, the NTUC and Singapore National Employers' Federation. We hope that this tripartite effort would bring about a greater awareness of its benefits among employers as well as the economically inactive, and facilitate their return to the workforce.

Within a month after the launching of the "Back to Work" Programme, a total of 1,655 applications have been received. These applicants are being referred to the participating companies to be interviewed. For those who require core skills training, the Productivity and Standards Board and their employers will send them for suitable training courses.

Of the 1,655 applicants, 1,069 or 65% are married women in the 30 to 54 age group. 83% of these women have also indicated their preference for part-time and flexi-work arrangements. This confirmed our observation that married women prefer part-time or flexi-work arrangements. Employers who have difficulty recruiting staff should be aware of the constraints faced by this pool of potential employees and make the necessary adjustments.

My Ministry and the Productivity and Standards Board are currently working with employers, particularly those with many vacancies, to examine ways of restructuring some jobs for part-timers, thereby widening their recruitment pool. Over the longer term, we hope to attract more and more married women back to the workforce, with jobs which allow them to supplement their family income and at the same time attend to their homemakers' responsibilities.

Mr John De Payva: Sir, would the Minister consider partial or full waiver of the foreign maid levy to further encourage housewives to come into the workforce?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, the foreign domestic worker levy is necessary in order to moderate demand for foreign domestic workers. At today's rate of levy, $330 a month, we already have more than 90,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore. If we further reduce the foreign domestic worker levy, the demand is liable to shoot up. We may then have a much larger problem to manage and cope with such a large number of foreign domestic workers in Singapore. In order to encourage married women to work, the Government has, in fact, given them a double tax relief on the foreign domestic worker levy that they pay. Whether the woman or the husband employs the domestic worker, they can now claim a double tax relief of the woman's income so that it more or less substantially reduces the woman's real payment for the foreign domestic worker.

Mr John De Payva: Sir, before one can enjoy the double income tax relief it would require a substantial take home salary. If a housewife wants to go to work, then the income she earns would not entitle her to that kind of relief. Would the Minister want to consider this?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, I think that is the purpose of giving a double tax relief, ie, to encourage those women who are able to make a substantial contribution to the economy and earning a higher salary to come back to work and, if they need to, then they can engage the services of a foreign domestic worker. That is the whole purpose of it. In fact, if the woman's income is so low that she cannot even afford to pay the maid the wages and the levy, then perhaps the woman should consider alternative arrangement instead of employing a foreign domestic worker to look after the household needs and to care for her children. There are many other such options or alternatives available. In fact, most Singaporean families do not depend upon foreign domestic workers to look after their children. The majority use the traditional avenues like in-laws, parents or other family relatives to care for their young children. So there are other alternatives. The foreign domestic worker is not the only solution to this problem.