Couples childless by choice unswayed by more leave days
Parents of babies born from April 1 next year will get more leave days – four weeks of mandatory leave for the dad and six weeks of shared leave for both mum and dad. And the shared leave increases to 10 weeks from April 1, 2026.
But that is not enough to convince childless couples in Singapore to go forth and multiply.
To the Estebans, who got hitched in July 2023, the extra time off in the first year of the baby's life does not even come close to making up for all the sacrifices they'd have to make in starting a family.
"We love our financial freedom, and our time and space to ourselves," 30-year-old Shereen Esteban told TNP.
"We have toyed with the idea of having children but since it's not a priority, it would take more than just extra leave days to convince us to give up our freedom."
Her 35-year-old husband Ericson chimed in: "There is the issue of cost and responsibilities, which do not cease at the end of the parental leave."
Added cost is also an issue to Mr Zion and his wife Kaitlyn. The 42-year-olds got married in 2014 and a decade later, they still do not think the joy of parenthood will outweigh the financial sacrifice.
"Milk powder is like $70 a tin and that will last for maybe two weeks," said Mr Zion.
"That is just one item off a long list of costs that comes with a baby."
Cost is a widespread concern among married couples, the sentiment commonly expressed even online.
Netizen janeyap3231 commented on the YouTube video carrying highlights of the Prime Minister's Lawrence Wong's National Day Rally speech: "Solve the problem of unemployment, the high cost of living. Basic needs have to be taken care of first, then paid leave days for babies, housing and so on."
"I am not convinced," said 32-year-old Adzreen.
The advertising professional and his wife of three years already decided not to have children.
“It would feel like we would be living for the children and not for ourselves, our dreams would have to take a backseat," he added.
"Of course parents would debunk our argument. For example, we can get a maid and perhaps work on our time management in order to maintain balance.
"But if we were to be parents, we would not want to delegate the job of raising our children to the maid. We would want to be actively present in our children's life."
Mr Adzreen is also unsure that all employers are fully on board with the added time off for parents.
Maternity, paternity and parental leaves are funded by the Government – employers of parents on leave have the provision to hire temporary or ad hoc workers to fill the spot.
But not all employers make temporary arrangements to cover their employees who are on extended leave, causing the other members of the staff to dread the added workload whenever someone in the team welcomes a new baby.
"Not all roles can be easily covered by a temp worker without training or experience," explained Mr Adzreen.
"This is disruptive to the team."
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