60,000 husbands nationwide work as home makers

KUALA LUMPUR: There are about 60,000 house-husbands in Malaysia, who are considered as "working" at home, according to deputy Human Resources minister Datuk Ismail Abdul Muttalib.
Stating this, Ismail hinted that they may have been forced by their wives into becoming house-husbands. He said these husbands are willing to do the cleaning, washing, cooking, and taking care of the children.
"But we are not sure whether they are doing this voluntarily or whether they have been forced by their wife. I don't know," he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
Ismail said based on the ministry's statistics there are 2.91 million domestic workers including housewives or home makers.
"From the total we have about 60,000 men who are home makers, compared to 2.4 million women who are home makers. So these are men who work at home.
"We are concerned about these husbands 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 9 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 also urged workers unions and employers to discuss better maternity and paternity benefits in their collective agreements.
"We want unions and employers to work in a tripartite with the government to address issues affecting them for both men and women workers," he said.
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 who take care of their wives after childbirth, as well as the newborn child.