Imagine a land scattered with jam-packed old-folk homes while the remaining of the working population slog their guts out to salvage the wreckage. Believe it or not, this is where we are headed unless the situation improves. Singapore has been plagued with a devastating baby drought with an all time low total fertility rate (TFR) of 1.28. In 2001, the government introduced the Baby Bonus Scheme to combat the baby dearth among citizens. Yet, the number of citizens born yearly has merely risen by 129 despite the record funding of $230 million. Thus, it is evident that the baby bonus has had little impact to raise the TFR so far due to reasons discussed in this commentary, namely the mindset of the society and the difficulties in maintaining a balance between work and family.
In spite of these, the Baby Bonus Scheme does help settle the worries of couples who find the financial burden of raising a child too heavy to bear. These monetary rewards given out to parents can be used to subsidize the child’s early years of education or medical needs. Indeed the bonus cannot be thought as merely a monetary incentive but rather, it helps to speed up the decision of couples of whether to have a child. The scheme also provides subsidies for childcare services. For example, government childcare subsidy is available for children below the age of seven years attending licensed childcare centres. Subsidies encourage working parents to send their children to childcare centres so that they can continue working. Thus, the Baby Bonus Scheme resolves the financial worries of couples, increasing the TFR.
However, the decision to have children is a multifaceted one. It is deeply influenced by other factors and not financial issues alone. Unless this plethora of issues is tackled, the TFR is highly unlikely to see much increase.
Firstly, there is a higher need in the change of the society’s mindset. As Singapore modernizes, its citizens become more educated and women are able to become more independent. They develop a deep passion for their career and a sense of satisfaction when they succeed. In fact, Singapore has witnessed a sharp increase in the percentage of working mothers from 45.6% in 1986 to 54.3% in 2006. Consequently, women tend to be unwilling to compromise their passions to raise a child. On the other hand, there exists a heavy expectation for women to take up their culturally assigned roles as caretakers. This mindset even manifests itself in the law when comparing the short paternity leave of three days as compared to the three months long maternity leave. As a result of the two conflicting views, with neither willing to give way, couples choose not to have children instead of striking an equilibrium of the time spent raising the child by each parent.
Secondly, the difficulties in maintaining a balance between work and family cause couples to be hesitant to have babies. Working women are especially reluctant to have babies, fearing the insurmountable task of having to juggle between the demands from work to their family-building duties, which require large amounts of commitment. Thus, couples are doubtful of their ability to balance these two important aspects of life. For example, a Straits Times survey in 2004 indicate findings that showed that Singaporeans are “not averse to babies, but just need help balancing work and family ambitions”. Although sending their children to childcare centers presents an alternative, couples often view it as being unfaithful parents and would rather avoid the guilt. Thus, faced with the difficulty in juggling work and family, unconfident couples choose not to have children.
In conclusion, other prominent factors have been shown to affect the decision to have children. Thus, the Baby Bonus Scheme is limited in its impact and presents a too simplistic solution to resolve such a personal and complicated dilemma. However, at the very least, we can be assured that Singaporeans are putting much serious consideration into this issue. After all, the very future of our nation is at stake here.
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