As the total fertility rate plunged into the 0.8 range, putting Singapore on the brink of a "population cliff," the country unveiled sweeping childcare support measures. In addition to giving households more than 70 million won in cash per child, it will also expand child care leave.
According to Bloomberg on the 23rd (local time), Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in a National Day address that each Singaporean child will receive nearly 70,000 Singapore dollars (about 76 million won) in direct support from birth to age 17. This includes a 10,000 Singapore dollar baby bonus paid at birth.
The Singapore government will also greatly expand paid child care leave and push to cut the monthly fee for government-subsidized full-day child care centers to 150 Singapore dollars. Going forward, all working parents with children age 12 or younger can take eight days of leave if they have one child, 10 days if they have two, and 12 days if they have three or more. For a dual-income couple with three elementary school children, their combined leave will increase from four days to 24 days.
These childcare support measures stem from alarm over the population cliff. According to the "2025 births and deaths report" released by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) last month, the number of births last year was 29,864, down 11.45% from the previous year. It is the first time since independence in 1965 that Singapore's annual births have fallen below 30,000. Singapore's total fertility rate fell to a record low of 0.87 last year, and the country is expected to become a super-aged society this year, with people 65 and older accounting for 20% of the population.
Wong said, "Families around the world today are under increasing pressure," and, "We want to fundamentally shift how we support families." In June, he had said the government would move away from relying on incentives to encourage Singaporeans to have children and instead focus on making family life itself easier.
Housing support measures were also announced. The government decided to give priority to couples applying for subsidized public housing for the first time—used by most citizens to buy their homes—for each child they already have or are expecting. And starting on the 24th, it raised the income cap for applicants for Build-to-Order (BTO) public housing from the current 14,000 Singapore dollars a month to 16,000 Singapore dollars.
Beyond Singapore, Asian countries experiencing low birthrates have recently pulled out cash-support cards to focus on boosting fertility. In May, Taiwan said it would, starting next year, pay about 230,000 won each month to children and adolescents under 18, and set aside part of the amount until adulthood to be returned as a lump sum.
Vietnam, where the low-birth trend has also become clear, said last month it would pay at least 2 million dong (about 100,000 won) per person at childbirth to women who have a second child before age 35, women living in provinces and centrally run cities with low fertility, and women from very small ethnic minority groups. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, also said last year it would pay a childcare allowance of 3,600 yuan (about 740,000 won) per child annually.