The most recent Global Gender Gap Report estimates that gender parity will not be obtained for more than a century. Yet the government has the power and the responsibility to create meaningful change and achieve substantive gender equality at home and work. 

We have outlined six principles and accompanying policy ideas that we believe will bring us closer to an equal, fair and just world. 

We urge all policy-makers and politicians to commit to the following actions:

1. Eradicate discrimination

End all forms of discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, age, nationality, disability, race, religion, HIV and health status, marital status, employment status, pregnancy and family caregiving. 

Policy: 

• Enact a comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that prohibits discrimination in housing, employment, education and all other aspects of life.

2. Ensure decent work for all

Ensure all women, including domestic workers and sex workers, have access to decent work. Equalise pay between genders, and ensure financial security in retirement for all women.

Policies: 

• Enact a legislation that gives every employee the right to employment free of harassment, including sexual harassment and bullying 
• Introduce substantive labour protections for all casual workers not covered by the Employment Act
• Enact legislation to give all employees the right to request flexible work arrangements that can only be denied by employers for business-related reasons
• Amend the Tripartite Guidelines on Wrongful Dismissals to more clearly define poor performance, misconduct, and retrenchment
• Ensure the right for employees to return to the same job after maternity or unpaid caregiving leave
• Extend the Progressive Wage Model to all sectors with low-wage workers

3. End violence against women

End all forms of violence and harmful practices against women and girls, regardless of gender identity and sexual orientation. 

Policies: 

• Provide comprehensive gender and sexuality education at all educational levels. Include sections on consent, respect, healthy relationships, boundaries and sexual orientation. 
• Introduce a national code on sexual harassment that sets out duties of institutes of higher learning, provides victim-care support, and sets out standards and principles for investigation and management
• Set-up an e-safety commission to expedite take-down orders for technology facilitated sexual assault
• Introduce a statutory, positive definition of “consent” for sexual activities

4. Financially compensate and equally distribute unpaid domestic and caregiving work within families

Policies: 

• Introduce a Caregivers’ Support Grant that subsidises out-of-pocket caregiving expenses and helps build retirement adequacy of caregivers
• Introduce paid family care leave for caregivers providing care to older relatives, similar to paid childcare leave
• Make CareShield Life premiums gender-neutral 

5. Treat all parents equally regardless of marital status and citizenship status

Policies: 

• Allow unwed mothers to form a family nucleus with their child when applying for HDB housing, instead of approving grant applications on a case-by-case basis 
• Lower the age of eligibility for public rental housing to 18 years, from 21
• Lengthen tenancy periods of rental housing and Interim Rental Housing for as long as necessary for single parents and their children to find stable housing without the threat of eviction
• Empower HDB to enforce court orders to sell or transfer matrimonial flats upon divorce
• Grant Long Term Visit Pass-Plus to all foreign spouses of citizens. Create a clear, timed process for these foreign spouses to obtain permanent resident status

6. Better support low-income households to meet basic needs

Policies:

• Allow all lower-income households to access government-subsidised childcare for free
• Enhance support to ComCare recipients who find employment, by (i) extending ComCare payment for 12 months upon employment, (ii) introducing a “retention bonus” for job stability, and (iii) introducing a savings-match scheme to help build cash savings and incentivise saving
• Enhance Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) for low-income persons by: (i) reducing the WIS age requirement, and (ii) reducing the barriers for SEPs to be eligible for WIS
• Incentivise employers of shift workers to adopt flexi-shift or stable and core scheduling to accommodate caregiving schedules.

Download the Gender Manifesto as a PDF here.