BEFORE there were disposable diapers, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had to change his children's cloth nappies, fastening them with safety pins.

The father of four quipped that he did not prick any of his children, who are now young adults, with the safety pins.

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'If I can do it, that means anybody can do it,' he said during his National Day Rally speech on Sunday night, to chuckles from the audience.

He told this story when urging fathers to shake off traditional gender roles, and be more proactive in raising children and helping out at home.

More gender equality in parenting, and help to stay in the workforce after becoming mothers, was what modern women wanted.

Mr Lee said he gleaned this from looking at the examples of other countries, and from discussions he had with women here.

In countries with a 'more macho culture' - such as Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain - where women were more likely to stay home, women were having fewer babies.

But it was different in the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands where gender roles were more equal, he said. There, women were more likely to work but still have more babies.

In Singapore, women have told him that they no longer want a traditional situation where men went off to work and women stayed home to raise the family, said Mr Lee.

To the men, he urged them to make the effort to share in the home duties.

'If husbands leave everything to the wives, or the women are forced to choose between working or having babies, they are going to go on baby strike,' he said.

Singapore needs more babies. Its total fertility rate is a dismal 1.29 - behind the the 2.1 needed to replace the population.

Mr Lee acknowledged that speeches would not bring about a change in the mindset of men.

'But I think we can shift the ethos... maybe in schools when it comes to domestic science, we must teach the boys also some of these skills. Try to influence them to have the right expectations and share the responsibility.'

The Government would also do its bit to facilitate parenting for both men and women.

Either parent will be able to claim a week of unpaid infant care leave per year, until their child reaches the age of two, he said when announcing announcing a slew of new incentives to encourage couples to have children.

And childcare leave, which can be claimed by either parent, will increase from two to six days a year.