A couple in 1-room flat can have 6 kids, Kee Chiu

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

Source: TR EMERITIUS

Minister Chan: A couple in 1-room flat can have 6 kids
April 6th, 2014



At a family empowerment event at Singapore Expo yesterday (5 Apr), Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing acknowledged that Singapore families are facing new pressures. These include intense competition, work stress and high aspirations for their children.

Speaking to 3,000 parents, Minister Chan recounted how an elderly couple told him their 6 children grew up in a 1-room flat before going on to become graduates.

Yet when asked if they had any grandchildren, the couple replied that their children were concerned about the cost of having kids – despite being better off today than they had been growing up.

Mr Chan noted, “In the past, we used to have extended families; nowadays we have nuclear or post-nuclear families. Our family sizes are getting smaller and smaller over the years. All these will pose challenges to the family as a core institution for our nation.”

In his Lunar New Year message this year, PM Lee said Singapore needed “enough children to form the next generation”.

“Unfortunately, despite our efforts to promote marriage and parenthood, our birth rates are still too low,” the Prime Minister lamented.

Singapore’s current fertility rate is 1.19 babies per female, down from 1.29 in 2012. The rate for Chinese Singaporeans, who make up 74% of the resident population, is lower, at 1.06.

However, according to CIA World Facebook, the Total Fertility Rate of Singapore is 0.8 babies per woman. Singapore is ranked 224th out of 231 countries/territories very nearly at the bottom of the rankings [Link].

Falling back on the vagaries of the horoscope, PM Lee said, “We must try to do better. I hope the Year of the Horse will see some improvement.”

“I hope to hear more wedding bells and newborns’ cries throughout the year.”

Despite a series of so-called “baby bonuses” to encourage couples to have children, Singapore has not been able to boost its fertility rate to the 2.1 level needed to maintain the native-born population.

Singapore’s low birth rate has given the government a reason for importing foreigners into Singapore. However, with more foreigners coming in, the level of work stress goes up for Singaporeans while at the same time their pay goes down, which leads to many Singaporeans putting off having children. A vicious cycle is thus born.

Presently, foreigners including PRs comprise nearly 40% of Singapore’s 5.4 million population.

Back at the Singapore Expo event, Minister Chan did not address the issues of Singaporeans’ concerns about the cost of having children.

He appeared not to understand why Singaporeans do not want to have kids despite being materially better off today.

Mr Chan might have brought up the example of a poor couple raising 6 children in a 1-room flat in the past, but he did not explain to his audience how that is possible today.


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