IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT MEASURES ON FERTILITY RATE IN SINGAPORE

IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT MEASURES ON FERTILITY RATE IN SINGAPORE: 1.

Mr Hri Kumar Nair asked the Prime Minister what new strategies will the Government pursue to increase the fertility rate among Singaporeans.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security (Mr Wong Kan Seng):

(for the Prime Minister): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Government made significant enhancements to the

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Marriage and Parenthood Package in August 2008 to provide Singaporeans with more support in getting married, and having and raising children. The enhancements covered a broad range of measures, such as increased maternity and childcare leave, increased Baby Bonus cash gift and co-savings, and increased childcare subsidies. Overall, the package sought to create a more pro-family environment for Singaporean couples.

Given that the enhancements to the Marriage and Parenthood package have been in place for just two and a half years, we should allow more time to assess the impact of these measures. The Government remains committed to supporting Singaporeans in getting married and having children, and we will review the package at an appropriate time in the future. I encourage our young Singaporeans to get married and start a family, and for those who are married, to have more children, so that they can experience the joys of parenthood.

Mr Hri Kumar Nair (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Supplementary question, Sir. I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for his answer. May I ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the reduction in the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is on account of changing priorities or mindsets and, if that is the case, whether he considers increasing financial incentives will solve the issue?

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Mr Speaker, Sir, I think the issue is far more complex than just putting in more money or encouraging people to have babies. As Mr Hri Kumar has pointed out, we have seen a change in values and mindsets in the way people perceive marriage and having children. If Members remember: in my parents' generation, having half a dozen to a dozen children was practically the norm. Then, for their children, because of the programme that the Government rolled

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out at that time, many had at least two children. Now, the younger ones would think about giving the best to their children. So, they conserve whatever resources they have to try to give the best to the children and, therefore, have fewer children. A bigger mindset change is really in the way people think about their lives. When they find a job, there are so many other priorities that they have in mind, such as building their careers, saving enough money and so on, and so as a result, we see an increase in the singlehood rate in our population, particularly among those who are of a marriageable age. The last Population Census of 2010 had shown that there were increases in the singlehood rates for both men and women.

Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): The Deputy Prime Minister mentioned that the various incentives were introduced almost two and a half years ago, and that we should give them more time before doing a review. My first supplementary question is: when will the review likely be done? Second supplementary question is: I am sure the Ministry would have much information and data to understand what are the causes for the declining TFR. Perhaps the Deputy Prime Minister could share with us what the main causes are so that the right strategies, incentives and resources can then be allocated to arrest this very complicated issue, which involves many aspects across many Ministries, be it education, housing, and so on.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Sir, a review will be done at the appropriate time. If the Member asks me when that will be, I cannot tell him for now. Since it is just two and a half years ago that we had introduced the improved package, it is really too soon for me to say, "by this particular date, we will do a review". There are many reasons people choose to have children, have more children, or choose to not have children or get married

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at all. There is no one answer to it and there is no one strategy that we can use. What we have tried to do is to help couples who have children or who want to start a family with some assistance either through childcare subsidies, maternity leave, income tax rebates or other measures. We think there is no single item for which we can say that by doing more of this or that, we will have more babies.

I do not think I am able to do justice to the question raised by Mr Seah in the next half an hour or one hour because the issue is really far more complex. Every human being is different. Even for societies that we have studied, there is no one, single method through which TFR could be raised. We know some countries spend quite a bit of money and they have achieved a higher TFR. We also know of some countries that spend very little money and yet, they have a high TFR. Even at the individual level, we know some people can well afford to have many children but yet have very few. And some cannot afford to have children and yet have many. I do not think there is a single answer to deal with this issue, when we are dealing with human beings and talking about emotions and people's needs.