Citizens' Panel on Work-Life Harmony Opens for Application

Bringing citizens together to co-create solutions in support of work-life harmony in Singapore

The National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) in the Strategy Group, Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Manpower (MOM), and Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), in collaboration with the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), are inviting Singaporeans to form a Citizens’ Panel to deliberate on work-life harmony issues and co-create solutions. The Panel will convene over four Saturdays between 28 September 2019 and 9 November 2019.

Background

The Citizens’ Panel on Work-Life Harmony was first announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat in June 2019. This initiative is part of a series of engagements with Singaporeans on marriage and parenthood matters led by Manpower Minister Josephine Teo, who also oversees Population matters. Other channels where views and ideas from the public have been sought on the topic in recent months include online surveys, dialogues, and Listening Points set up by REACH in public places.

Workplace culture and social norms are powerful influences on Singaporeans’ choices at work and in their personal lives, including their decisions on dating, marriage, having children, and caring for family members. There are currently policies in place to support more family-friendly workplace practices. However, these policies also need to be complemented by cultural and mindset shifts, which cannot be determined by government policies alone. The Citizens’ Panel is an opportunity for Singaporeans to work directly with the Government to shape a new consensus on the issue. The Citizens’ Panel will aim to:

a. identify underlying factors and gain deeper insights on issues that affect Singaporeans’ work-life harmony, in the context of supporting families; and

b. identify trade-offs and develop solutions, including those that could be undertaken directly by business owners, supervisors and workers, to create conditions for work-life harmony in Singapore.

Call for participants

Singapore Citizens aged 21 years and above, who are keen to participate in co-creating solutions for better work-life harmony, are welcome to apply to be a participant of the Panel. From the applications, about 50 members of the public from different walks of life, including employers and employees from various occupations and sectors, will be selected.

Over the four sessions, participants will deliberate, discuss, and make informed recommendations on how we, as a society, can develop solutions to create the conditions for work-life harmony in Singapore. Participants in the Panel take ownership of their ideas by formulating a set of their own recommendations, which will be presented to the Government in November 2019. The Government will review and respond to the Panel’s recommendations in early 2020.

Interested citizens who wish to be part of the Panel can apply at https://www.madeforfamilies.gov.sg/play-a-part/citizens-panel-on-work-life-harmony from 15 July to 31 July 2019, or call +65 6516 5603 (between 9am and 5pm, from Monday to Friday). Selected participants will be informed by early September 2019. Singaporeans can also share their views and ideas on strengthening support for marriage and parenthood through our online surveys and suggestion box at heybaby.sg/PlayAPart.

More information about the Panel can be found in Annex A.