By Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 02 October 2007 2118 hrs
:bigeyes: well done ladies!:thumbsup: Guys better buck up!:bsmilie: JIA YOU Ba!!!:cheergal:
SINGAPORE: Singapore's women in their 20s are earning 98 percent of what their male counterparts do.
This was revealed by the Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports at a news conference on Tuesday.
But, Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon said, there is more to be done. She said the main challenge now is to get older women to re-join the workforce.
Animah Gani is the first woman Registrar of the Syariah Court. She is seen as an example of women who have gained equality at the workplace.
Animah is also a member of the Singapore delegation to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which took place from 23 July to 10 August in New York.
The convention recognised that Singaporean women have economic and political opportunities that are comparable to their male counterparts.
In fact, the UN's Gender Empowerment Measure ranks Singapore sixth out of 175 countries.
But recent numbers from Singapore's Manpower Ministry showed that across the age groups, women still earned less than men.
This was particular so for women aged above 60. They earned 67 percent of what their male counterparts did.
The Manpower Ministry said this is because women often re-enter the workforce only after their children have grown up. So they do not have the skills and experience to command a higher pay.
Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon said: "We are going to focus on these areas, to work with NTUC and Ministry of Manpower, and they have already set up the Tripartite Committee. So for us, it's more of mindset change.
"We will work with Mr Lim Boon Heng's Ministerial Committee on Ageing to see how we can work with the People's Association and woman groups to reach out to the older women, how to help them to re-enter the workforce."
The Singapore delegation to CEDAW will also look into various other initiatives, including helping women to achieve better work-life balance. - CNA/ir
:bigeyes: well done ladies!:thumbsup: Guys better buck up!:bsmilie: JIA YOU Ba!!!:cheergal: