By Nas Norziela Nasbah
AMPANG JAYA, March 10 — State executive councillor for women empowerment and welfare Anfaal Saari said that childcare expenses has been identified as the biggest challenge for working mothers.
She said a survey held among the applicants of the MamaKerja incentive found that 61 per cent of the mother felt childcare costs to be their primary concern and had proposed that the programme to be implemented as a annual initiative.
“A total of 13.7 per cent of respondents felt that inflexible working hours were a challenge for them, and 13.6 percent emphasised the quality of childcare and child safety.
“Following the encouraging response from applicants, I will propose to the Menteri Besar that the MamaKerja incentive to be carried out as an annual programme in the 2025 Selangor Budget,” she said when met at the Selangor-level Women’s Day celebration at the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ), here today.
Also present were Housing and Local Government (KPKT) deputy minister Datuk Aiman Athirah Sabu and MPAJ president Dr Ani Ahmad.
Anfaal said to date, 3,850 working mothers in Selangor have received the RM1,000 MamaKerja incentive to ease the financial burden of childcare expenses.
She said 1,745 out of the 5,595 applications received are currently being reviewed for document verification.
Meanwhile, Anfaal said that in line with the Selangor Women’s Policy, the Women and Family Development Permanent Committee will review best practices for flexible working hours regulations.
She said the state agency Wanita Berdaya Selangor will provide specific guidelines and conduct advocacy programmes for the implementation of flexible working hours in the public and private sectors.
“I am confident that this step will not only help working women but also potentially encourage more women to return to work,” she said.
The Selangor government introduced childcare incentives to ease the burden on 5,000 working women across the state.
The MamaKerja initiative, which opened on November 1 of last year, was one of the pledges of the Unity Government manifesto offered to the people of Selangor during the 2023 Selangor state election in August.
With an allocation of RM5 million, the programme, which is in line with the First Selangor Plan (RS-1) support for increasing women in the workforce, is open to working women with three children under 12 years old and a household income of no more than RM8,000.
