60,000 househusbands

> Concern over rights of male homemakers

KUALA LUMPUR: There are about 60,000 house-husbands in Malaysia, who are considered as “working” at home, said Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Ismail Abdul Muttalib.

He hinted that they may have been forced by their wives into becoming househusbands.

He said these men were willing to clean, wash, cook and take care of the children.

“But we are not sure whether they are doing this voluntarily or whether they have been forced by their wives. I don’t know,” he told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Ismail said based on the ministry’s statistics there are 2.91 million domestic workers including housewives or homemakers.

“From the total, we have about 60,000 men who are homemakers, compared to 2.4 million women who are homemakers. So these are men who work at home.

“We are concerned about these men as well,” he said.

Ismail said although the 2018 Budget gives emphasis to women in the workforce, the government is also concerned about the rights of men in the workforce.

He said there are a total of 14.6 million employees in the country with nine million men and 5.6 million women.

“We are not abandoning the rights of men in the workforce. In fact, the government announced five days of paternity leave for men in the public sector starting next year.

“But for the private sector, there are no specific provisions and the paternity benefit depends on the employment terms and contract or collective agreements,” Ismail said.

He urged trade unions and employers to discuss better maternity and paternity benefits in their collective agreements.

“We want unions and employers to work with the government to address issues affecting both male and female workers.”

Ismail was responding to a supplementary question by Datuk Abdullah Sani (PKR-Kuala Langat) who had asked about government’s measures on the role of husbands in taking care of the wife who gave birth and the newborn child.