Decades after Overpopulation Scare, Singapore Encourages Couples to Have More Children

Anne Marie Williams : Mar 9, 2020
Live Action News

"Supporting Singaporeans in fulfilling their plans to get married and raise families is a key national priority..." -from Singapore government booklet

[LiveAction.org] A February 22 Wall Street Journal article highlighted increasingly aggressive measures taken by Singapore's government to encourage couples to have children. The government is seeking to provide incentives to families that could include housing, preschool, and transportation benefits. (Image: Unsplash-Clement Chai)

In 2018, Singapore's fertility rate was an abysmal 1.14 children per woman, only half of the 2.2 average required for demographic stability. This statistic is particularly deflating given that the government has actively implemented measures to encourage childbearing for years. On heybaby.sg, a government hub for policies in support of having more children, a 29-page booklet summarizes benefits available to new parents and parents of multiple children. The very first page of the booklet reads:

Supporting Singaporeans in fulfilling their plans to get married and raise families is a key national priority. The Marriage & Parenthood Package provides comprehensive support that is made for families, and has been enhanced over the years to address the evolving needs of Singaporeans. This booklet provides an overview of the support that is available to support Singaporeans at every stage of their marriage and parenthood journey. Everyone can play a part to make Singapore a great place to start and raise families!

With brightly colored graphics and images, the booklet outlines benefits by category, including, "housing, workplace and community support, preschool and education, better health, caring for our children, and transportation." The final section of the booklet gives examples of benefit combinations from multiple categories available to different types of families... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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