KUALA LUMPUR (July 27): The government will allocate RM10 million towards measures to increase the participation of women in the labour force to 60% from the current 55.5%, which will bring Malaysia's levels in line with that of regional economies.
In a speech at the launch of the Ekonomi Madani plan here on Thursday (July 27), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that women’s labour participation rate is still low, compared to men at 80.9%, and the gap needs to be closed.
He added that there needs to be a comprehensive effort in terms of legislation, enforcement, and support programmes to encourage mothers to return to work.
As such, the government will implement the "Care-Economy" initiative to address systemic issues, such as domestic work, lack of monetary payment, gender discrimination, and family support policies.
Urgent measures under this initiative include the provision of affordable childcare centres across the country, simplifying the registration process for kindergartens and childcare centres, and expanding programmes to legalise unregistered centres nationwide at a cost of RM10 million.
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