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Singapore’s Care Paradox: First-World Economy, Third-World Care Labor

lkyspp.nus.edu.sg · saved by 1 readers

This entry received 3rd prize in an AY2025/2026 op-ed competition by Bridging GAP (Gender and Policy), a student group at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy which aims to enhance awareness of the importance of gender among public policy students. At 5:30 a.m. in many Singapore homes, the workday has already started. An older parent is helped out of bed. Breakfast is prepared. School uniforms are ironed. Medicines are sorted into plastic boxes for morning and evening. By the time office towers switch on their lights, several hours of labor have already happened. It is physically tiring, emotionally demanding, and mostly invisible. When we discuss the future of work, we usually jump to AI, green jobs, and digital skills. Those conversations matter, but they miss something basic: paid work runs on care work. Children, older adults, and people with disabilities still need daily support, no matter how advanced an economy becomes. In aging societies, care needs rise while family size s

This entry received 3rd prize in an AY2025/2026 op-ed competition by Bridging GAP (Gender and Policy), a student group at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy which aims to enhance awareness of the importance of gender among public policy students. At 5:30 a.m. in many Singapore homes, the workday has already started. An older parent is helped out of bed. Breakfast is prepared. School uniforms are ironed. Medicines are sorted into plastic boxes for morning and evening. By the time office towers switch on their lights, several hours of labor have already happened. It is physically tiring, e

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