Female labour force rate at 62.6% in 2023: MAS

This was higher than the OECD average of 56.7%. 

The labour force participation rate among women in Singapore was at 62.6% in 2023, which was higher than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average of 56.7%, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in response to a parliamentary query. 

Citing MAS' labour force participation rate study published in the April 2024 Macroeconomic Review, Gan Kim Yong, deputy prime minister and minister for trade and industry and chairman of MAS, also said that a one percentage-point (p.p.) decline in the gender wage gap is associated with a 0.2 p.p. increase in the female labour force participation rate, and 0.1 p.p. increase in the overall labour force participation rate.

MAS said that factors other than the gender wage gap will also affect the female and overall labour force participation rate, such as further improvements in educational attainment, fostering the sharing of caregiving responsibilities, and family-friendly workplaces to help caregivers manage work and family commitments.