Changing times, changing needs: A Case Study of Singapore’s population policy.

Changing times, changing needs:

A Case Study of Singapore’s population policy

Learning Points

Identify why population growth is important to a nation

Identify the reasons why family planning was needed from 1966 – 1981

Identify the methods that the government used to control population growth from 1966 - 1981

Some background information about Singapore’s population in the 1950s and 60s:

Steep increase in population because of post-war ‘baby boom’

Reasons for baby boom Recovery of economy People had confidence in the future and

decided to have larger families People believed that having more children

meant security in old agePopulation grew from 1.02m to 1.64m from

1950-1960

Relation between population and Singapore

Population (too large) → unemployment→ shortage of housing→ insufficient healthcare

services→ Insufficient education

Population (too small)

→ lack of human resources

→ Ageing population

= AFFECT THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF A NATION

1966 – 1981:

Boom in population

Government discouraged population growth

Family planning needed from 1961 – 1981

Why was there a need? ‘Baby Boom’ which will hinder the growth and development of the nation

In 1966, Singapore Family Planning & Population Board was set up by the government to control population growth by formulating policies

Family planning needed from 1966 – 1981

Period Details on 5-year plans

1966 - 1970

Encourage smaller families

1971 - 1975

Encourage married couples to ‘stop at two’

1976 - 1981

Maintain the level of 2.1 children to 1 married couple

Measures Implemented

- Contraception- legalized abortion- no paid maternity for 3rd

and subsequent child- No priority to large

families in allocation of

flats- No income tax relief for 4th

and subsequent child- Delivery charges increase

for each additional child

1980s onwards:Decline in population

Government encouraged population growth

Learning Points

Identify the reasons why there was a need to promote population growth from the 1980s

Identify the methods that the government used to promote population growth from the 1980s

Reasons for decline in birth rate

1. Declining birthrates from the 1980s

(2.1 to 1.82 children per woman) because of: increase in costs of living people marrying at a later age

Why promote population growth from 1980s?

1. Expansion of industries and the need to develop nation More jobs were created in industries and a larger

workforce is needed to sustain the nation’s development

2. The need to attract multinational companiesSmall population means: small labour market (less talented people) MNCs would find it more expensive to recruit

Singaporeans as compared to the huge labour market in countries like China

smaller consumer market

Why promote population growth from 1980s?

3. Ageing population fewer babies born each year Older people > the babies born each year more resources needed to take care of

INCREASING no. of senior citizens

4. Defence Fewer recruits for National Service

= weak defence force

How did the government promote population growth from 1980s?

Population Growth Promotion

The Graduate Mothers Scheme

Others:

•Equalised medical benefits

•Grandparent caregiver relief

•5-day work week for the Civil Service

•Extended maternity leave

Three or More if You Can Afford It

Attracting Foreign Talent

The Graduate Mothers Scheme

In the 1980s, PM LKY observed that more graduates were marrying later and women were bearing fewer children

The Graduate Mothers Scheme

Why is then PM LKY worried about this phenomenon?

Based on research, the education level of the parents had a direct impact on the performance of their children in schools (parents who were university graduates were more likely to have children who performed better in schools

↑ no. of children of female u-grads

= more educated generation of workforce

The Graduate Mothers Scheme

Low birth rate among the well-educated would result in:

• Weakening of economy• Suffering of administration• Decline of society

The Graduate Mothers Scheme

The scheme was introduced in 1984 to encourage marriages among graduates & to encourage them to have more children (e.g. giving incentives)

Sparked of debate & unhappiness among the people

Less-educated people were unhappy as they were neglected

The Graduate Mothers Scheme

The complaints of the less-educated

All Singaporean mothers should be treated equally

There are some ministers whose mothers are not graduates but have produced leaders

Why discourage those who want children and can bring them up properly

The less-educated are the ones in greater need of incentives than graduate mothers

The Graduate Mothers Scheme

The result:

Unable to win the support of the peopleNegative public reactionsScheme was withdrawn after one year of

implementation in 1985

Eugenics in Singapore

The study of methods of improving genetic qualities by selective breeding

Mr Lee Kuan Yew recently said at the Human Capital Summit held last month: "You marry a non-graduate, then you are going to worry if your son or daughter is going to make it to the university."

(10 nov 08)

Cost of a having a baby in Singapore

Public Hospitals:

Trips to the gynaecologist = $30 (minimum 5 times throughout the whole pregnancy)

Normal Delivery charges = $3KDelivery charges for caesarean = $6KDiapers (2 packs/week) = $13 Milk (per tin/week) = $30Check up for baby (every 6 mths) = $30

Cost of a having a baby in Singapore for the first 6 months

$4524 for the first 6 months

$756 per month (excluding baby clothes, house

loan, car loan, daily expenses)

Three or More if You Can Afford It

Aimed at bringing Singapore’s population growth back to replacement level of 2.1 children per women

Parents were encouraged to have 3 of more children IF THEY COULD AFFORD IT

Three or More if You Can Afford It

Why does the government need to take a cautious approach?

Singapore experienced its first recession in 1985 where some MNCs withdrew their investment in Singapore and retrenched workers

If too many babies were born during that period, families might not be able to cope financially and serious social problems might arise What are some

social problems that can arise?

Three or More if You Can Afford It

Benefits to help relieve financial burden of having children:

Allowing medisave to pay for the delivery charges of first three children

Three or More if You Can Afford It

However people felt that the assistance was not enough as:

The cost of bringing children is becoming too expensive for some Singaporeans because of increased foreign maid levy, school fees, tutor fees

Increasing cost of medical care which means that Medisave acounts could be easily used up

Singaporean becoming more self-centred

Three or More if You Can Afford It

The result:

Limited successNo. of children born per woman

↑ from 1.48 (1986) to 1.96 (1988)However the ↑ in 1988 was partly

due to it being the year of the dragon where Chinese consider auspicious

After 1988, the no. of children born per woman steadily ↓ (1.24 in 2004)

Three or More if You Can Afford It

The result (continued):

Despite publicity campaigns, couples continued to have one or two children

Large no. of Singaporeans continued to marry at a later age or remained single

In 2004, Singapore recorded the lowered birthrate with only 35,100 babies born

One of the lowest fertility rates among developed countries

Other Pro-family Measures

In 2004, PM Lee Hsien Loong announced a package of new marriage and parenthood measures after considering the feedback of the public (high cost of raising children, lack of suitable childcare arrangements):

Equalised medical benefitsGrandparent caregiver relief5-day work week for the Civil ServiceExtended maternity leave

Other Pro-family Measures

Equalised medical benefitsPreviously only fathers could make medical

claims for their children from their employers now both parents are able to do so

Grandparent caregiver reliefIncome tax relief of $3000 if a grandparent is

helping the couple take care of their chil

Other Pro-family Measures

5-day work week for the Civil ServiceTo allow for better work-life balance

Extended maternity leaveFrom 8 weeks to 12 weeks

Reactions of Public towards Pro-family Measures

Family-friendly policies created a more committed and productive workforce, thus fostering a caring employer/employee relationship

The amount of work remained the same which meant that people brought work home at night and during weekends

Pro-family Measures (Recent Changes)

In 2008, the Singapore government is spending an additional S$700 million a year on measures on pro-family measures. Currently, it spends about S$900 million a year

Cash gift of up to $4,000 each for your 1st and 2nd child and $6,000 each for your 3rd and 4th child Paid maternity leave is extended from 12 weeks to 16 weeks

Childcare leave, which can be claimed by either parent, will be extended from two to six days per year

.

http://www.babybonus.gov.sg/bbss/html/index.html

Attracting Foreign Talent

Bring in foreign talent to:

Enhance competitiveness of SingaporeBoost quality of manpowerCreate more jobsIncrease productivity

Attracting Foreign Talent

Government attracted foreign talent in 1989 by relaxing immigration policy:

Easier entry into SingaporeSubsidised housingAttractive education package for children of

foreign talent

Ultimately, the government hoped that they would develop an attachment to Singapore and take up permanent residence or citizenship

Reactions of Singaporeans towards Foreign TalentA comment by a blue-collar Singaporean worker:“Aiyah the government give this, give that to the ang mo. But do the government know that these ang mo will always go back to their own country once they earn our money??”

From the source, I infer that Singaporeans are unhappy as the government is giving incentives to foreign talents OR they think that the government’s policies in attracting foreign talents to stay in Singapore is ineffective as foreigners will not develop an attachment to Singapore as it says, “but do the government know that these ang mo will always go back to their own country once they earn our money”.

Reactions of Singaporeans towards Foreign Talent

A conversations between 2 local university students:

“Oh man…Yesterday, I was rejected by ABS company over this Australia guy.”

“Ya man, my friend had a similar experience like yours last week. Keep trying, don’t give up”

From the source, I infer that Singaporeans are unhappy that companies in Singapore prefer foreign talents over local as it says, “Oh man…Yesterday, I was rejected by ABS company over this Australia guy”.