Planned parenthood for women's development--a non issue in Singapore?
Wong, A.K.
Concern 19: 4-6
1980
PMID: 12278897 Document Number: 411819
Women's right to family planning and contraception have never been a question in Singapore, which may be the reason planned parenthood and women's development has never been addressed as an issue. Economic opportunities for married women and women's development are valuable objectives in the promotion of family planning. According to the National Surveys on Family Planning and Population, the mean number of children born to working women (2.3) is nearly the same as the mean for nonworking women (3). In 1957 only 21.6% of the female population was economically active, compared to 41.9% in 1979. 38.4% are employed in manufacturing, 24.2% in commerce, and 20. 8% in service. The majority of married women are not working. Part-time jobs are scarce. Employers believe that married women are not committed employees. The low wages for women with little education leave little money to pay for childcare. Women are caught between the national economic development policy and the national population policy. While families are exhorted to cut down on family size, women are being encouraged to work to ease the labor shortage. As women are having small families and their life expectancies are 70 years, women have the need for personal development and playing more of a social and political role.