Singapore's parental leave will be increased to 30 weeks to encourage childbirth
Singapore's Prime Minister has announced a series of new social welfare measures in his National Day Rally speech, including mandatory paternity leave and increased unemployment benefits.
In terms of family welfare, Singapore has implemented a shared parental leave policy since 2013. Currently, working mothers are entitled to 16 weeks of government-funded maternity leave, of which up to four weeks can be transferred to the father. Working fathers are entitled to two weeks of paternity leave, with the employer deciding whether to provide an additional two weeks of paid leave.
The Philippines allocated 3 billion pesos to build a nationwide free public Internet
According to Philippine media reports on the 22nd, the Philippine Secretary of Budget and Management, Amena Pangadaman, allocated an additional 3 billion pesos to the Department of Information and Communication Technology to promote the Free Public Internet Access Program to support the construction and maintenance of free Wi-Fi projects in 13,462 access points across the Philippines.
The plan aims to ensure that every Philippine citizen enjoys the fruits of digital transformation, especially in public places such as schools, libraries, public parks and transportation hubs, providing online services for education, work and daily life.