Childcare leave: What happens if your child still needs you after they turn 12?

Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and may not necessarily reflect the position of NTUC.

When Prime Minister (PM) Lawrence Wong announced at this year's National Day Rally that childcare leave would be increased, I was ecstatic.

As a working parent, having more days to tend to my children’s needs is something I will never complain about.

Under the new arrangement, working parents will get eight days of childcare leave a year if they have one child aged 12 and below, 10 days if they have two children, and 12 days if they have three or more children.

The Government will also cover the cost of statutory child-related leave, up to the reimbursement limit, to help reduce the burden on employers.

These are meaningful improvements.

But as I listened to the announcement, one question kept coming back to me.

Why 12?

I ask this not because I think the Government's move is insufficient. On the contrary, I think it is a step in the right direction.

I ask because other than being a parent to a pair of 14-year-old twins, I am also the parent of a 9-year-old boy with autism.

Besides having difficulties grasping social cues, he is non-verbal and is barely able to string a sentence with more than five words together.

And while I cannot predict exactly what the next few years will look like, one thing I am certain is that when he turns 12, he is unlikely to be as independent as I would like him to be.

Special children, special needs

Today, my son has more needs than his peers.

He needs me to bring him for his annual appointments with the various clinics at the hospital. He needs me to send him for regular speech and occupational therapies.

He also needs more help navigating situations that many other children his age might manage on their own. Situations such as visiting a dentist or even going for a haircut are challenges for him.

And I expect that he will continue to need support even as he grows older.

That is the part of the childcare leave announcement that I find myself thinking about.

The Government's rationale for extending childcare leave to cover children up to 12 is understandable. Older children may no longer need the same kind of physical care as toddlers and preschoolers, but they still need their parents. PM Wong himself acknowledged this at his Rally speech.

But children are not all on the same developmental timetable.

For some children, turning 12 marks the beginning of greater independence. For others, it may simply be another birthday.

So perhaps there is room to think about whether such privileges should be pegged by age.

It is not simply about getting more days off work, but more if our policies recognise that caregiving needs do not always follow set schedule.

Not every family’s journey is the same

For many parents, childcare leave is about taking a day off when their child is sick, attending a school event or when alternative childcare arrangements fall through unexpectedly.

For parents of children with additional needs, it can sometimes mean something else entirely.

It can mean taking time off for an unexpected meltdown in school. It can mean attending a hard-to-get therapy session that suddenly has an opening spot.

And sometimes, it simply means being there.

I do not have an answer for what the policy should look like. Perhaps there could be additional flexibility for parents of children with certified special needs. Perhaps there could be a separate pool of caregiving leave that can be used for therapy and developmental appointments. Perhaps the age limit could be reviewed for children who continue to require substantial parental support beyond 12.

There may be practical and administrative challenges with all of these options, but I hope the conversation can continue.

My son is 9 today. In three years, he will be 12 and, for all I know, he may turn out fine. But for a child like him, growing older may not necessarily mean needing me less – he may still need me beside him when the world becomes too difficult to navigate alone.

And I hope that I can be there should that day come.

The increase in childcare leave tells parents that their time with their children matters. I am grateful for that message.

For families like mine, I hope the Government’s next message is: We understand that some children need their parents for longer. We will make room for that, too.