Too early to review fertility schemes: DPM Wong
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SINGAPORE: Schemes to boost Singapore's fertility rate will be reviewed when the time is right, said Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng.
Mr Wong said this in response to a question in parliament from MPs, who wanted to know what new strategies the government will pursue to increase the fertility rate among Singaporeans.
The country's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) hit an all-time low of 1.16 last year.
Mr Wong, who is also the minister in charge of population issues, said it is too early to assess the effectiveness of the current schemes, as they have only been in place for two-and-a half years.
The schemes include the Baby Bonus package, increased maternity and childcare leave, as well as higher childcare subsidies.
"I think the issue is far more complex than putting in more money or encouraging people to have babies," Mr Wong said.
"And as Mr Hri Kumar pointed out, we have certainly seen a change in values and mindset in the way people perceive marriage and having children.
"We know some people who can well afford to have many children, but they have very few. And some who can't afford to have children, and they have many. So when we deal with human beings, talking about emotions and peoples' needs, I don't think there's a single answer to deal with this issue."
-CNA/wk -
hmm..
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go find a qigong master far better lah..................
system designed by Israelis ???
you're better off sleeping with a king cobra lah....................
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“…..the issue is far more complex than putting in more money or encouraging people to have babies," Mr Wong said.
"And as Mr Hri Kumar pointed out, we have certainly seen a change in values and mindset in the way people perceive marriage and having children.again, i like this statement...it seems to show that there is some acknowledgment that women charter alone will not resolve the fertility issue....there is a greater need to study and explore for more balanced solutions....at the social psychological levels for all ...it is a good start, though rather late....
the faster the commitment towards that objective, the more sustainable and stable the social framework becomes...the realization of higher social capital could then be achieved.....
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this shows the depth of emphasis our ministers has placed on fertility rate. how come this topic is in a direct contradiction to the other post by QX179R "raising fertility rate requires change of attitude" lol.
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too early? the current fertility schemes are rubbish. Wow, fantastic DPM Wong.
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Low birth rate cause: More singles, delayed childbearing
THE Government will look at ways to help single men and women find partners, in a bid to tackle the problem of falling birth rates.
More people are staying single and those who are married are putting off having babies, said Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, on Sunday.
It was announced last month that Singapore's total fertility rate hit a historic low of 1.16 last year.
He did not provide details of the help that would be given to singles, but said the issue would be a major area of focus when Parliament meets next week to debate the details of the Budget.
'We know the vast majority of people do want to get married; we need to help them find the right partner and also see what other needs they feel need to be addressed so they can settle down early and start a family,' he said at the sidelines of a community event at Senja-Cashew community club.
He noted that the total fertility rate of married couples is two and that is 'healthy'.
-- ST
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Government is getting it wrong.
Being able to afford a baby in the monetary sense does not equate to having the time to take care of the baby. Putting the baby into the hands of babysitter does not help too because that is not really pro-family.
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exactly. i have heard of cases in low income families, that the mother went out to work fulltime for around $1.5k, only to pay childcare fees for close to $1k. In the end, she's left with peanuts after paying off the expenses incurred by the child.
the more children one has, the costlier it becomes. e.g. for 2 children, childcare cost will be $2000, while the mother continues to make $1500/month. so logically speaking, these people will prefer to stay and home to look after their children since its cheaper as compared to placing them in fulltime childcare.
but this created another problem of decreased household income due to the mother not working. even peanuts is better than having no income in today's context.
no wonder that people are still not have children, or limiting themselves to only 1 child.
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The govt figured out that it is cheaper per individual/cost basis to bring in foreigners to shore up workers shortfall than to incentivise Singaporean to produce more.
This is a short term and myopic solution. The longer term disadvantage will outweigh the short term gain.
This is why we need oppositions in parliament - to force the govt to be accountable for its policies, not to ram policies down our throats and hoodwink us that their policies are always the best. -
Originally posted by 4sg:
The govt figured out that it is cheaper per individual/cost basis to bring in foreigners to shore up workers shortfall than to incentivise Singaporean to produce more.
This is a short term and myopic solution. The longer term disadvantage will outweigh the short term gain.
This is why we need oppositions in parliament - to force the govt to be accountable for its policies, not to ram policies down our throats and hoodwink us that their policies are always the best.On ST's headlines today.
PM: Not Many Can Do Budget, S'pore Style
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The government fertility schemes are like insults to Singaporeans. Basically, it goes like this: "Here, take some money, and go make babies."
Having high healthcare costs, expensive milk powder, coupled with insufficient time and money to spend with and on children, are some reasons that were not addressed by the schemes.
And with so many foreigners, if you want to give more off days/childcare leaves to Singaporeans, this will make local labour less appealing to employers since non-Singaporeans do not get as much benefits.
This can go on and on, and is definitely not a simple issue. But I do not think current schemes will work.
Some suggestions could perhaps be
1) Substantially subisidise healthcare costs for babies who fall sick often
2) Remove GST for baby-related products
3) Education is expensive in terms of study materials. More can be looked into this area. -
according to ST, there's around 200,000 China workers on worker's permit in singapore. and that's a conservative estimate, excluding PRs and new citizens.
they already outnumber our SAF standing forces of around 50k, 4 to 1.
moral of the story is that in singapore, anyone could be replaced at any level, by cheap foreign imports.
and its already sad that in spore, Indians have overtaken the Chinese in household income, with the rise attributed to the influx of indian professionals, IT, engineers, lawyers, etc, into singapore.
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eagle
There is a book in the library. It is called 'the next hundred years' written by futurist george friedman. goerge friedman was a hungarian emigrant to the us and he sat up a research insitution researching into the future.
I dont agree with everything written in the book but he explained the phenomenon of disappearing babies - perfectly and clearly. It is like a veil has been cleared for one to see the picture - clearly.I will go as far as to say, any policy maker who reads it and grasps its implication and impliment the correct policy will then be able to solve the shortage of babies issue - properly.
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I am a parent and raising a kid is no joke, lots of money pump into it. I am tallking about from baby till unviersity. Many years of hardship and financial strain.
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Too early?
I think he make a grave mistake.
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Originally posted by likeyou:
Too early?
I think he make a grave mistake.
What did you expect things to come out of Wong Kan Seng ? of course he say - everything too early. !!!Yeap remember how Mas Selamat escape, - after escape then do all the shits - when things should be look into right now !!!
it is too early - the right time to talk about it is the day he bloody retired - it is someone else issue !!!
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For him, everything is too early.
Nothing is late.
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More time needed to assess impact of past efforts to tackle problem of low fertility rate
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng says more time is needed to assess the impact of past efforts to encourage marriage and parenthood in Singapore.
Mr Wong, who's also is the Minister in-charge of the National Population and Talent Division, was responding to concerns raised by several members of parliament about the low fertility rate and what can be done to boost it up.
Speaking the Committee of Supply debate for the Prime Minister's Office in parliament today, he said the government has invested sizeable resources to support Singaporeans in having children.
And it is not time yet to make any further enhancements to Marriage and Parenthood package first introduced in 2001.
"With the 2008 enhancements, we now have a broad-based package of support measures, including maternity and childcare leave,increased baby bonus. We shall allow more time to assess these measures before considering further adjustments,. NPTD will consider MR Zaqy's suggestion on how to present the package more intuitively so that Singaporeans, can understand and appreciate the various measures that apply to them."
Nominated member of Parliament, MP Viswa Sadasivan had asked if the cost of HDB flats could have deterred couples from getting married.
But Mr Wong said the government is committed to making new flats affordable through generous subsidies.
Mr Wong also elaborated on the reason behind Singapore's low total fertility rate or TFR, which hit a new low of 1.16 last year.
One reason is that married women are having fewer children and also marrying late.
But the other contributing factor that has had the greatest impact on the TFR was that more people are now remaining single.
62% of females aged between 25 and 29 were singles, up from 45.5% in 2000.
While for males in the same age group, 78.5% were singles in 2010, 66.4% in 2000.
Single hood rates for those aged 30-34 also increased significantly.
Ultimately, he said getting married is still a personal decision and what can be done is to facilitate the process for singles to socialise.
"I know from perception surveys that Singaporeans, do want to get married, and they are just waiting for the partner and so are the men. Getting married is a very personal decision, and what the government can do, is to facilitate the process of providing opportunities for singles to socialise."
Mr Wong said what the government can do is to create an environment for Singaporeans to have and raise children.
But couples must also continue to bear some responsibility.
"For now I think we have done enough to encourage shared parental responsibility through childcare leave. Married couples should decide between themselves how to share their parenting responsibilities."-- 938Live
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When the TFR hits 0.5, then they will set up a committee to look into the matter again.
The time taken to study that issue and come up with a solution will probably be around 10 years.
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Originally posted by eagle:
The government fertility schemes are like insults to Singaporeans. Basically, it goes like this: "Here, take some money, and go make babies."
Having high healthcare costs, expensive milk powder, coupled with insufficient time and money to spend with and on children, are some reasons that were not addressed by the schemes.
And with so many foreigners, if you want to give more off days/childcare leaves to Singaporeans, this will make local labour less appealing to employers since non-Singaporeans do not get as much benefits.
This can go on and on, and is definitely not a simple issue. But I do not think current schemes will work.
Some suggestions could perhaps be
1) Substantially subisidise healthcare costs for babies who fall sick often
2) Remove GST for baby-related products
3) Education is expensive in terms of study materials. More can be looked into this area.They solved the problem of not having "more talented" people in the government by increasing salaries to a million dollars.
And they can tell you with a straight face that money cannot solve the fertility problem?
Tomorrow, if they announce that every newly wed couple will get $100,000 for every child they produce and you will see all these couples take urgent leave from work immediately to go home and procreate.
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Originally posted by charlize:
They solved the problem of not having "more talented" people in the government by increasing salaries to a million dollars.
And they can tell you with a straight face that money cannot solve the fertility problem?
Tomorrow, if they announce that every newly wed couple will get $100,000 for every child they produce and you will see all these couples take urgent leave from work immediately to go home and procreate.
They will have to calculate first, will the $100,000 be enough to last for 21 years.
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3 MPs offer suggestions to boost birth rate
WHEN dangled a baby bonus in cash of $500,000 per child, with no strings attached, some childless women would change their minds.
This finding emerged from a straw poll conducted by MP Zaqy Mohamad (Hong Kah GRC), who argued in Parliament on Wednesday that such 'in-your-face, upfront and simple' cash incentives would go further in convincing women to have more children.
'There is a tipping point, a price,' he said. 'Just that the Government hasn't found it, or is finding the price too tough to swallow.'
Mr Mohamad was one of three MPs to offer suggestions on how to boost the abysmal birth rate during the debate on the budget for the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in Parliament on Wednesday.
The other two were Nominated MPs Viswa Sadasivan and Paulin Tay Straughan. All three argued that the current array of subsidies and tax relief under the Government's $1.6 billion 'Marriage and Parenthood Package' are insufficient in convincing Singaporeans to have more children.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, who heads the National Talent and Population Division under the PMO, said that more time was needed to assess the impact of the package, last enhanced in 2008.
-- ST
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Originally posted by tranquilice:
They will have to calculate first, will the $100,000 be enough to last for 21 years.
The $100,000 was just a figure I plucked from the sky.
It could be $500,000 or $1 mllion.
You don't think it will work?
Within 1 year, the population could increase by 50% without even need for importing one single foreigner.
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PAP dowan boost fertility rate.
They wanna depend on foreign talent inflow to make up for loss in fertility rate.