Then please help with affordable childcare, a better work-life balance, and more financial support.
This is the plea from Singaporeans when asked what can be done to encourage them to get married and have children - and more of them.
Their wish list emerged yesterday when the Government released the findings gathered from more than 10 dialogues its agencies held with more than 300 people. They range from young singles to childless couples as well as parents.
Singapore has been grappling with having too few babies for about two decades, despite various measures to encourage marriage and parenthood.
At the dialogues held in the past four months, one key concern was the Singapore woman's struggle to balance children and career. It was highlighted yesterday by Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport Lim Hwee Hua, who chaired the dialogues with five MPs.
She said the participants gave various solutions while the Government has also looked into what other countries, like Sweden, have done. Ideas include giving maternity leave beyond the current three months; introducing paternity leave which will stress shared responsibility between mothers and fathers, and providing affordable quality childcare.
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, chairman of the National Population Committee, is expected to speak on the subject in Parliament on Monday.
At yesterday's press conference, the issue of making paid paternity leave mandatory - and longer - was also raised by two MPs involved in the dialogues, and National Family Council chairman Lim Soon Hock. Now, male civil servants get three days of paternity leave, but it is not compulsory in the private sector.
Mr Lim said making it compulsory was key in the raft of recommendations his council submitted to the Government last week. 'We want to promote this. Paternity leave can help lighten the load of our womenfolk who are career-minded.'
MPs Hri Kumar and Michael Palmer, both lawyers, also took the same stance.
But who should foot the bill?
In Sweden, parents get, among other things, 13 months of parental leave. The generous policies are funded by a 25 per cent goods and services tax and a 56 per cent tax on top earners, noted Mrs Lim. But cost aside, she said the 'bigger challenge' for policymakers here is to adapt the model to the local context.
She recounted feedback that some mums here return to work before their three months of maternity leave are up over worries their careers would suffer.
'So the challenge is to find that sweet spot,' she said.
Meanwhile, Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said her ministry will look at infant care following feedback that current options are too limited and too expensive. This is particularly so for working-class mothers, she added.
Singles have also said they are at a loss on how to socialise to find partners. They also complained that private matchmaking agencies are too profit-oriented.
'We will look at how SDU can develop and complement the private sector,' said Mrs Yu-Foo, referring to the Social Development Unit, the government matchmaking agency.
