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NEARLY one in three women mid-lifers here has never held a job and faces the prospect of not having enough savings for her old age, a new government survey has found.
And among those who work, two out of five want to continue working well past the current retirement age of 62.
But they prefer to work part-time or on flexi-time, so that they can continue to draw an income and stay active in their old age.
These are the preliminary findings of a survey of baby boomers done last year by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) among 3,000 Singapore residents.
The findings were made public yesterday by the ministry's Minister of State Yu-Foo Yee Shoon at an event to launch a forum series for women.
The forum series aims to raise awareness among women about their rights at the workplace and on how to be financially more secure.
The series, tagged NTUC Wise or Women Interactive Series, is open to the public, and men are encouraged to attend as well with their wives. It is organised by NTUC.
More details of the survey will be released soon, said Mrs Yu-Foo, who in her speech highlighted a future Singapore where many women will be alone in their old age.
Citing latest official figures showing that half of the women older than 65 are widows, she said: 'We can expect to see an increase in the incidence of widowhood and lonely aged women. Younger women...need to be prudent and financially prepared for their old age.'
To help women prepare for their old age, Mrs Yu-Foo called on them to continually upgrade their skills to stay relevant in the workplace.
The Government will also need to do its part, she acknowledged, to encourage more housewives to enter the workforce.
One target for MCYS is to make childcare and elder-care services more accessible and affordable, she said.
Unionist Camelia Marican, 44, suggested that subsidies at NTUC childcare centres be given not just to working mothers but also housewives working part-time.
'This will ease the financial burden on lower-income families. We also need to educate husbands to be supportive and let their wives work,' she said.
Apart from programmes to ease housewives into the workforce, NTUC will use the Wise forums to spread awareness of new national schemes to boost women's financial security, said NTUC deputy secretary-general Halimah Yacob.
She hailed the recent Budget announcements, specifically the Medisave top-ups of between $150 and $450 for those aged 51 and older, as well as the bonus for buying the CPF Life annuity.
This Life bonus is to encourage those with less than $40,000 in their CPF Minimum Sum balances - such as housewives - to take part in the national annuity scheme to be introduced in 2013.
However, women will benefit from these changes 'only if their spouses top up their CPF Minimum Sum accounts or cover them under MediShield', she said, referring to the national health insurance plan.
clare@sph.com.sg
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