Fatherhood, full-time: Why more Singapore men are staying home to care for their children

Click HERE

reflect a broader rise in hands-on fatherhood in Singapore, driven partly by the normalisation of flexible and hybrid work during the Covid-19 pandemic

workplace norms remain less supportive of fathers taking up larger caregiving roles, and that mothers are still the primary caregivers in most families

The pandemic briefly made parents’ childcare roles more visible, helping to make male caregiving more acceptable both socially and in workplace settings...It also lowered psychological and practical barriers for fathers to take on primary caregiving – even if temporarily – as flexible and hybrid work became more common

Pragmatism is another factor...Dual-income couples are making decisions based on who earns more, whose job is more flexible and who can step back with less long-term penalty.

more individualistic norms mean couples are less likely to be driven by societal expectations and more likely to choose arrangements that suit their household

Mothers continue to form the vast majority of stay-at-home parents....and many working mothers remain the “default parent”

a comment on Instagram likening him to “chi ruan fan”, which directly translates to “eating soft rice” – a derogatory term used to describe a man who lives off a woman in Chinese

Relate to issues on social norms and tradition.....