While it may be true that some research has documented the importance of active fathering and the potential for a child’s father to influence a woman’s abortion decision, the Centre for Fathering and Dads for Life should be more circumspect when evaluating the effectiveness of their initiatives as well as the extent to which fathers may have contributed to the decrease in abortions since 2010 (ST, Mar. 8).
In response to a parliamentary question by MP for Nee Soon GRC Louis Ng, manpower minister Josephine Teo revealed that 84 per cent of eligible fathers in the public sector make use of their paternity leave, compared to the national rate of 53 per cent (ST, Feb. 27). The ostensible talking point seemed to focus on the observation that “the public sector utilisation rate is even higher than those in Nordic countries, which are well-known for their family-friendly policies and strong support for parenthood”. Yet missing from this exposition are (causal) explanations for the phenomenon in Singapore.
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