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Choosing career or care: More men in Singapore exiting the workforce to look after their parents

Channel News Asia

“The more important objective is to ensure that caregiving responsibilities do not push individuals out of the workforce prematurely or unnecessarily, especially when many of these workers still have valuable experience and productive years ahead of them,” she said.

Dr Malhotra, who leads Duke-NUS’ Centre for Ageing Research & Education, agreed when asked about the kind of caregiver-friendly society for which Singapore should aim.

Singapore is projected to become “super-aged” this year, when the share of its population aged 65 and above crosses 21 per cent.

A super-aged society reflects not only more older individuals and a concurrent increase in those with care needs, but also fewer younger individuals, including those of working age, said Dr Malhotra.

“It is of value to retain individuals in the workforce for as long as possible, providing them with adequate support within and outside the workplace to fulfil their care and caregiving responsibilities and ensuring a good quality of care (and life) for them and their care recipients,” he said.

This could allow more caregivers like Mr Soh and Mr Tan to do the best they can in the roles where they find themselves at different points in life.

Read the full article here.