How
to make more Singaporean
babies By Kalinga Seneviratne
SINGAPORE - How to get Singaporeans to
have more babies has become a major part of the
debate about this country's future, and the
government is encouraging people to speak out on
the issue.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong,
in his national day speech on Aug. 26, assured
this nation of four million people that the
government would make "the most important
long-term investments in our people" by increasing
spending on pre-school and university education.
His pledge to boost public spending on
education, especially at the pre-school level, is
in response to concerns that Singapore's fertility
rate has dropped alarmingly in the past two
decades as
the country has
progressed economically. At 1.2 births per woman
it is well below 2.1, the figure needed to keep
Singapore's population from shrinking.
The
issue was given further momentum when Singapore's
91-year-old founding father Lee Kuan Yew,
addressing a national day dinner recently in his
constituency, warned that the country was facing a
choice of more babies or more immigrants to
maintain its economic prosperity. "If we go on
like this, this place will fold up" he warned.
The government has set up a National
Population and Talent Division (NPTD), which has
invited views from the public on how to bolster
Singapore's sagging birth rate. The new office is
expected to come up with recommendations by the
end of the year.
Singapore's leading
women's association, AWARE, argued in a recent
submission to the NPTD that quality of life
concerns are the main reason that people are not
having more babies. The group called for
prioritizing gender equality in public policy.
Corinna Lim, executive director of AWARE,
said in an interview with IPS that there are many
issues which the government could address, such as
the lower rate of female employment, issues of
childcare and dependency on foreign domestic
workers, and the pressure on mothers to secure
high-quality education for their children.
"Quality of life and having a baby comes
in as the most important factor (in people's
reluctance to have babies)," she said. "If you are
going to look at it as, oh, if I have children I
need so much money, you might end up not having
children."
Research Assistant Sangeetha
Madasamy, 24, a sociology graduate, would like to
get married and have three children. "I think it
would be nice to have more than one child, but
this really depends on the cost of living," she
told IPS. "I just started working, and I still
have to pay off my student loans and would like to
continue my studies."
Laura Hwang,
president of the Singapore Council of Women's
Organizations, recognizes that lifestyle
aspirations are an important part of young
peoples' decision to create a family.
"More young couples delay marriage and
parenthood till after they are able to secure
their own nest, whereas previously, couples were
more accepting, staying with family before
launching off on their own," she told IPS.
"Other factors are increased anxiety over
marriage stability due to job prospects, overseas
postings and increased demands on mobility in
one's career advancement," she added.
Living in a small country where many
companies have overseas holdings or are regional
headquarters for international operations, many
upwardly mobile professionals have to frequently
travel overseas on work assignments.
And
the strong focus here on academic and career
excellence puts added pressure on the mother in
terms of education for her children. "We have an
education system that teaches at a certain level
and examines at a higher level," notes Lim. "In
between is the tuition [and] it's the mother who
has to take the child everywhere.
"We know
cases where when the child goes to secondary
school and is not doing well, the mother gives up
her job. She feels if the child doesn't do well,
she will blame herself for the rest of her life"
says Lim.
"Active involvement by both
parents in a child's care and upbringing, as well
as a network of support, are what would be the
biggest influence on a young professional woman's
decision on having children," says Hwang. She
recommends that workplaces adopt flexi-hour
schemes for both parents, so that the parenting
load can be shared.
"In Singapore, many
companies, especially local ones, are not
family-friendly, so women are afraid of losing
their jobs when they get pregnant," complains
Jacinta Leow, 33, a communications executive and a
mother of a two-year-old. She gave up her job when
she became pregnant and started a new one a year
after giving birth to her child.
"It would
really help if the government could be tougher on
companies that fire women for petty reasons after
they get pregnant," she told IPS. "They should
also legally ensure that women can take maternity
leave for a year to be with their baby without
fear of losing their jobs."
With no
mandated parental leave for fathers in Singapore,
the "message is that childcare is the mother's
problem," says Lim. "We must give more support to
both parents. We need shared childcare."
In July, the National Trades Union
Congress suggested that the government create
paternity leave, and Prime Minister Lee hinted in
his national day speech that this may be
considered.
But the Singapore National
Employers Federation is opposed to such a move.
Ian Tan, a 36-year-old father of two
schoolchildren writing in the 'Today' newspaper,
argued that "a relentless focus on grades and
wealth as key measures of success has led to a
society where many people want to succeed
materially first before they want to start their
family.
"If more Singaporeans can have the
opportunity to enjoy a more balanced lifestyle
while contributing to the nation's progress, it's
not only the birth rate that will improve
dramatically," he maintained.
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