Over the years, Singapore’s workforce has gradually diversified to involve a varied range of employees. Accordingly, our policies for these workers should improve to fit their needs as well.
Recently, Member of Parliament (MP) Louis Ng called for more inclusivity in the workforce, especially with regards to working mothers.
For instance, introducing more paid nursing breaks and lactation rooms would go a long way in seeing to their needs.
During a Parliamentary session on 2 Aug, Mr Ng raised the issue of working mothers’ needs in the workplace.
Source: MCI Singapore on YouTube
He shared personal stories of working mothers experiencing shame and discrimination during their employment.
“So many mothers told me they were asked to go to the toilet to express their milk,” he said.
Referring to a survey by the Breastfeeding Mothers’ Support Group Singapore this year, Mr Ng said the difficulties of expressing milk at work was one of the top three reasons why working mothers often stopped breastfeeding.
The same survey also states that eight in 10 working mothers mention a lactation room among the things they need the most.
Mr Ng therefore stressed the need to facilitate breastfeeding in the workplace. To this end, providing dedicated lactation rooms would be the best way to do so.
“Today, too many mothers are forced to use undignified spaces like toilets or storerooms,” he shared.
Such mixed-use spaces are often dirty or disruptive, and the stress can block mothers from expressing milk.
Currently, buildings with a gross floor area of 10,000 square metres require one lactation room.
Mr Ng called for the Government to lower this threshold, allowing more buildings to have such facilities.
Larger buildings with more occupants should also have more than one lactation room, he suggested.
He also acknowledged that companies may run into difficulties in managing their working space. To this end, he urged building owners to provide the lactation rooms instead.
Mr Ng additionally urged for the Government to introduce lactation breaks into the current legislation.
Source: MCI Singapore on YouTube
Emphasising the need for such a ruling, he pointed out that expressing milk takes roughly 20 to 30 minutes per session.
Despite this, Singapore is among the few countries not providing paid lactation breaks, a 2020 report by the International Baby Food Action Network states.
In addition, more than a third of working mothers cannot find the time at work to express milk.
“Legislating paid lactation breaks can spark a broader conversation about how expressing milk can be normalised and supported at the workplace,” he said.
Mr Ng further stated that a legislated approach to providing nursing breaks would not compromise the act of building trust between employees and their employers.
Some have also proposed flexible work arrangements may help breastfeeding mothers with this issue. However, such measures are not an option for everyone as many work in the office.
“We cannot leave these mothers hanging and they still need our support,” he said.
Providing for these mothers would also be a valuable use of resources. Mr Ng noted that 20% of women in working age are not in the workforce.
More can thus be done to ease their transition back into the labour force and ensure a higher retention rate.
As a small country with few resources, we need to rely on every part of our workforce to keep the economy going.
Working mothers are very much an important segment of our labour supply, who have valid and pertinent needs that have to be met to enable them to keep working.
Hopefully, our local authorities and employers will take this as the chance to accommodate some of those needs to make workplaces more welcoming for all.
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Featured image adapted from MCI Singapore on YouTube and TheSmartLocal.
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