ICYMI, one of the blockbuster announcements at this year’s National Day Rally is 10 additional weeks of government-paid leave to spend time with the children.
It is a big carrot. One that will cost the government $400 million annually when fully implemented. In a country desperate for babies, the new scheme is just one of many incentives to sweeten the deal of parenthood.
Like most developed countries, our total fertility rate (TFR) has been on a downward trajectory for years. It finally hit a critical point in 2023, falling below 1 for the first time. With a TFR of 0.97, this means that Singaporeans are not replacing themselves. At this rate, it is only time before we end up with the same fate as the dodo.
As expected, the Opposition is blaming the government for our pitiful TRF. The education system is too stressful. The cost of living is too high. These are the most often cited reasons for not having a child. Except such a discourse is too simplistic. It paints a picture of a population desperate to expand their families but prevented from doing so because the government has made the living situation untenable.
If that is the case, how do we explain the population boom in the 1960s, where our TRF hit a record of 5.76? Most Singaporeans were poor then, living in houses that didn’t even have basic sanitation. But clearly, financial stresses didn’t seem to stop them from multiplying.
Even if we look at modern demographics, the top 20 countries with the highest TRF in the world are war-torn and developing ones. As we can see, even actual government incompetence has not stopped humans from procreating.
Therefore, it is time to stop bashing the government as the culprit for our declining birth rate. If anything, they have done a pretty decent job at making Singapore a great place to raise a child. A clean, safe and tolerant society without the violence and prejudices we see elsewhere. Not to mention the high standards of education and healthcare provided to all children at a minimal cost.
So, what exactly has changed?
Mostly, it boils down to belief systems. Careers, hobbies and concerns about the environment are just some of the reasons why people opt for a child-free lifestyle. Others might even choose to stay voluntarily single when they realise that coupling up and forming the traditional family unit is not for them.
Of course, there was also a time when women got married and had children out of necessity. But these days, such economic dependence is no longer the norm in Singapore. With better education and career prospects, women are no longer beholden to men. Strangely, gender inequality rather than equality is what drives birth rates.
As couples look at the extra bedroom in their homes, it is their decision whether to turn it into a nursery or keep it as a gaming room. Which option, as Marie Kondo would ask, sparks more joy?
Because ultimately, as Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has noted, marriage and parenthood are deeply personal choices. So, to my fellow Singaporeans, let us leave the government out of the fertility debate, shall we?
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