STI: Oh baby, baby, it's a harsh world

Mar 7, 2004

Oh baby, baby, it's a harsh world
by Chua Mui Hoong

SO THE Government is thinking of throwing $28,000 at working women to get them to have a baby.

That's the average amount that an additional four months of maternity leave will cost, using the Government's own estimates of a $400-million payout to raise total fertility rate to 1.8.

There were 36,000 babies last year, and the state hopes to see the numbers go up to 50,000, which means a top-up of 14,000 babies.

Divide $400 million by 14,000 and you get about $28,000.

I'm sorry to be a wet blanket but I doubt the money, by itself, is going to make a big difference.

If we're really lucky, and if all the holistic measures such as promoting a better work-life balance and creating a more child-friendly society take root, we could get maybe another 20 per cent babies, to 43,200 in a few years' time.

But do we want to throw $400 million at the problem?

Even supposing that we do, consider, first, those who will be left out of the proposal to extend maternity leave benefits:

Group 1: The women who have already left the workforce to care for Baby No. 1. They are not working, so will not be eligible for maternity leave. But if they want another child, why not support them, too?

Group 2: The couples who would love to do their 'national duty' by having children, but cannot conceive. They would likely have spent thousands on unsuccessful fertility treatments.

In the end, they may have to fork out another $20,000 or so to adopt a baby from overseas.

The current proposal to extend maternity leave leaves them out in the cold. Is there a way to support such pa- rents?

Group 3: All those without children. The personal income tax rate was supposed to be cut this year, but wasn't. Result: an extra $400 million revenue in the government coffers, exactly the amount the Government is mentally prepared to set aside to create a baby boom.

I don't know about you, but the thought of my hard-earned tax dollars going to persuade spoilt young couples to have children is rather galling. After all, having children should be its own best reward.

The way I see it, money won't make couples change their mind about having children - at best, it can only support those who have already decided they want children.

That being the case, maybe we should look at how to support those who do want children but face difficulties.

In the spirit of consultation and throwing up ideas for discussion, here are some possibilities raised during a discussion I had with some people recently:

Save some babies from abortion.

Each year, thousands of babies are aborted. We could devote more efforts to saving a fraction of them.

Unmarried mothers could be persuaded to carry the baby to full term, rather than abort. And if they do have the babies, maybe some of the baby bonanza the Government is setting aside can be converted into training or education grants for these young women, to help them get their lives in order.

Help couples adopt.

Those babies saved from abortion could be matched with childless couples who would love to have children but cannot. Many now end up adopting from overseas.

Foreign-born babies welcome.

Singapore is throwing its doors open to foreign talent, the latest being mid-level skilled workers.

How about laying out the welcome mat for babies? After all, if we want Singapo- rean babies, what better way than to get them young and integrate them early into Singaporean families?

Recognise that singles, too, can be pro-children.

There are many single men and women out there who would like to have children, except they will be frowned upon.

Some choose to have children out of wedlock, but lose out on housing subsidies. Singles, especially if they have strong family support, can make good parents. Why penalise those who want to be parents?

Maybe the rules can also be made easier to let singles adopt babies, either from those saved from abortion or from overseas.

The above examples all point in one direction: to provide support for those who would like to have children but cannot fulfill their desire. They do not aim to convert those who resolutely remain childless.

But they are radical suggestions, cutting at the values system of a largely conservative society.

If you are already frowning disapprovingly, let me add that these are just suggestions thrown up in the spirit of encouraging a no-holds-barred debate on this issue so vital to Singapore's long-term future.