SINGAPORE – Singapore is seeking to reframe career breaks taken for childcare from stigmatised setbacks into accepted “detours,” as part of a new push to support marriage and parenthood amid a record‑low fertility rate. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah said on April 29 that one key goal of the Marriage and Parenthood Reset Workgroup she chairs is to reduce the “maternity penalty” faced by women and to encourage workplaces to fully back those who temporarily step away from their careers to raise children.
Indranee added that the workgroup will map out long‑term strategies across housing, caregiving and pre‑school education, with roughly half of the issues expected to be addressable through policy and the rest requiring broader societal change. She stressed that because marriage and parenthood involve mindsets, relationships and emotions, “whole of society” participation is needed to shift norms and make starting a family feel more attainable and less daunting.
Beyond individual choices, Indranee highlighted the need for a structural shift in workplace culture so that work and family life no longer feel like a zero‑sum trade‑off. Pointing to patchy adoption of flexible work arrangements, she said success would mean employees can meet their key performance indicators without sacrificing dinners with family, sacrificing weekends or remaining tethered to work messages during holidays. She urged companies to redesign work and strengthen human resources practices, using digital tools and artificial intelligence to build more humane and flexible job models.
Another key benchmark, she said, is for uncertain couples to feel more confident about having children by seeing more positive, relatable family experiences shared by friends and peers, rather than being deterred by stories of stress and competition. “I’m asking and calling on all Singaporeans and organisations to work with us on this so that we can change the trajectory of our total fertility rate,” she said.
The Marriage and Parenthood Reset Workgroup, which includes senior office holders from the ministries of Health, Manpower and Education, will publish a full report in early 2027. In the meantime, many young professionals, such as 30‑year‑old marketing executive Nazura Huda, remain cautious about taking extended career breaks, worried about lost promotions and professional networks, but still hopeful that the workgroup’s recommendations will make it easier to balance both career and family life.