The Straits Times
Republished with Permission
16 January 2026

“Family time is a priority. If I need to resume work, I do it after the kids sleep,” said influencer Andrea Chong, who is expecting her third child in January.

For many dual-income households, this is not an exception but a regular rhythm of daily life. Parents carve out late afternoons to pick up children, settle dinner and bedtime routines then log back on after dark to finish what could not be done earlier. Alongside formal job demands runs an invisible second shift of caregiving and mental load.

Across Singapore and the rest of South-east Asia, this strain is widely felt. A 2024 Milieu Insight study of 3,000 working mothers across six countries found that six in 10 struggle to find time for both work and family, with 68 per cent believing that flexible work arrangements would improve work-life balance and career prospects.

Without safeguards, flexibility risks becoming a pathway to chronic overwork, sleep deprivation and burnout. How, then, can flexible work support family life without turning midnight into a default second shift and fuelling burnout?

For the original article, please visit Resuming work when the kids sleep is a norm after starting a family.