IT IS unfortunate that gender equality still remains a huge issue in a modern, developed and progressive country like ours ("Gender equality still tops Aware's agenda"; March 8).
Singapore was placed 59th out of 142 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index conducted by the World Economic Forum last year ("The global gender gap: Here's how Singapore compares to the rest of the world"; ST Online, Oct 28, 2014).
While we have almost achieved gender parity and equality in the education sector, it is concerning that this has not translated into greater equality in the economic and political sectors.
On the economic front, our female to male ratio of workers holding positions such as legislators, senior officials and managers is only 0.46, indicating that we have less than one female for every two males in such positions.
We did especially poorly in the category of political empowerment, coming in at 90th place. With six women in ministerial positions, compared to 94 males, the ratio of females to males in ministerial positions was 0.06, according to the index.
There are many factors for this situation, but a significant one is the amount of paternity leave currently offered.
Men get only one week and have the option of sharing another week with their wives.
This amount of time is simply not sufficient.
Although it encourages fathers to play a "bigger" role, I doubt letting fathers go back to work after one week of babysitting will make much of a difference in changing gender norms which have curtailed the careers of many women.
In contrast, Sweden, which ranked fourth on the Global Gender Gap Index, offers parents 480 days of paid leave, to be shared between the spouses. These days can be used at any time before the child turns eight.
While there are other factors that contribute to Sweden's gender equality, parent leave is, nevertheless, an important factor.
I suggest that Singapore's Government explore increasing the mandated paternity leave by at least another week, to send a "bigger" signal to promote gender equality.
Hong Siang Huat
Singapore was placed 59th out of 142 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index conducted by the World Economic Forum last year ("The global gender gap: Here's how Singapore compares to the rest of the world"; ST Online, Oct 28, 2014).
While we have almost achieved gender parity and equality in the education sector, it is concerning that this has not translated into greater equality in the economic and political sectors.
On the economic front, our female to male ratio of workers holding positions such as legislators, senior officials and managers is only 0.46, indicating that we have less than one female for every two males in such positions.
We did especially poorly in the category of political empowerment, coming in at 90th place. With six women in ministerial positions, compared to 94 males, the ratio of females to males in ministerial positions was 0.06, according to the index.
There are many factors for this situation, but a significant one is the amount of paternity leave currently offered.
Men get only one week and have the option of sharing another week with their wives.
This amount of time is simply not sufficient.
Although it encourages fathers to play a "bigger" role, I doubt letting fathers go back to work after one week of babysitting will make much of a difference in changing gender norms which have curtailed the careers of many women.
In contrast, Sweden, which ranked fourth on the Global Gender Gap Index, offers parents 480 days of paid leave, to be shared between the spouses. These days can be used at any time before the child turns eight.
While there are other factors that contribute to Sweden's gender equality, parent leave is, nevertheless, an important factor.
I suggest that Singapore's Government explore increasing the mandated paternity leave by at least another week, to send a "bigger" signal to promote gender equality.
Hong Siang Huat
