By Non-Constituency MP, Gerald Giam
[Delivered in Committee of Supply on 7 March 2014]
In the latest breakdown of economically inactive persons in Labour Force Survey 2013 [1], there were 8,600 discouraged workers. These are persons who are not actively looking for a job because they believe their job search will not yield results.
There are others who want to work but cannot because of family responsibilities like childcare, care-giving to family and relatives, and housework. Almost half of the over 300,000 economically inactive women cited these reasons [2].
There were also over 85,000 time-related underemployed residents [3]. These are part-timers who were willing and available to work additional hours but are unable to find better work.
Finally, there are underemployed workers who are doing work that they are overqualified for. Many older PMEs (professionals, managers and executives) are in this group.
May I ask the Minister:
1. What is MOM doing to help discouraged workers to find work?
2. How does MOM help the underemployed to increase their working hours or find jobs commensurate with their skills and experience?
3. And how is MOM working with companies and other agencies to remove structural impediments to employment, like lack of childcare, student care, eldercare or flexi-work arrangements?
Can MOM publish a new aggregate measure of labour under-utilisation that factors in not only the unemployment rate, but also discouraged workers, the underemployed and economically inactive persons who want to return to the workforce.
Tracking this measure will help focus minds on factors that lead to a lower labour force participation rate, which has a direct impact on economic growth and household incomes.
[1] http://stats.mom.gov.sg/iMAS_PdfLibrary/mrsd_2013LabourForce.pdf
[2] Ibid. p. 57.
[3] http://stats.mom.gov.sg/iMAS_Tables/LabourForce/LabourForce_2013/mrsd_20...
Source: http://wp.sg