Are baby steps towards gender equality enough to support working mothers?

BEFORE you rush off to buy a last-minute Valentine's Day gift, consider if the woman in your life really needs a bouquet of cliche roses and a box of stale chocolates. Perhaps, what she really wants is for you to do the laundry, or make dinner, or pick up your socks for once. Instead of cheap gifts once a year, what she really needs is for you to advocate for equal pay, share in household responsibilities, and show her some respect.

Amid Singapore's strides towards gender equality, working mothers form a group that is still often overlooked. The term "working mum" itself implies that a woman's default role in a family unit is as the primary caregiver, and that her choice to participate in the labour force is a deviation from that norm.

The label "working mum" also perpetuates an often romanticised idea of someone who "does it all" - she is expected to excel in her career without forgoing her responsibilities as a mother and homemaker. Meanwhile, fathers ("working dads" - or just "dads" for that matter) are not held to the same standards when it comes to domestic responsibilities.