PUTRAJAYA: Saying that women will abuse their maternity leave by spending it on holiday is a just a myth, said Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Hannah Yeoh.
She said that maternity leave for mothers was to ensure both babies and mothers spend bonding time together and babies get exclusive breastfeeding.
“Maternity leave is not for holiday or fun, it is really for exclusive breastfeeding. Doctors always encourage mothers to breastfeed their babies for six months.
“The myth is if given maternity leave, women will abuse it and keep on having children. That’s the myth outside,” she told the media on the sidelines of the National Convention of Women and Family 2019 here today.
Among the incentives announced by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng when tabling 2020 Budget was a review of the Employment Act 1955 to increase maternity leave from 60 days to 90 days effective 2021.
Yeoh said when hiring women as employees, employers should provide support infrastructure such as childcare and maternity leave as well.
“What women bring to the workforce, to this nation’s economy, cannot be valued by how much you’re going to lose in those months because the women are at home during maternity leave.
“This 90-day leave is really very basic that women are asking for and when babies are with their mothers for the first three months, there will be less incidence of babies choking on milk,” she said.
Meanwhile, Yeoh said the ministry had agreed to implement periodical multi-stakeholders meeting at the federal, state and district levels in a bid to address issues of abuse and violence against women.
She said the committee would comprise police personnel, state executive councillors for women and elected representatives in the district.
“Sometimes we hear of so many cases, but they are not reported. With this multi-stakeholders meeting, we will gather all the details in a more systematic manner,” she said. - Bernama