STI: Parenthood gets a $300m boost

Aug 26, 2004

Parenthood gets a $300m boost
by Rebecca Lee

IT HAS everything that reluctant couples said would be needed to get them on the road to parenthood: a lower maid levy, longer maternity leave, subsidised infant care, tax breaks, even claimable relief for having grandma or grandpa play babysitter.

Indeed the long-awaited raft of measures unveiled yesterday to boost Singapore's sagging birth rate went a long way to address key concerns raised during extensive public consultation exercises held over several months.

But even as Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang disclosed that the new measures will cost the Government an additional $300 million a year - on top of the $500 million already being spent on pro-family measures - he also said the moves were not just about upping the birth rate.

'Ultimately, it is about making Singapore a great place for families,' said the minister, who headed a high-powered team to draw up the measures.

Echoing a point made by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at Sunday's National Day Rally, Mr Lim acknowledged that having children is a 'very personal decision'.

'But at the same time, we believe there is a role for Government and the community at large to provide a conducive framework for couples and families to raise their children,' he said, describing the declining birth rate as 'an issue of national significance'.

Singapore's birth rate fell to an all-time low of 1.26 last year - way below the replacement rate of 2.1 a year needed to renew the population.

'We have taken the approach of asking what we can do to help Singaporeans at each stage of their journey as parents,' Mr Lim told a packed press conference at The Treasury where he outlined the measures.

These target a large cross-section of Singaporeans - singles, childless couples and those with kids who are being encouraged to have more.

An estimated 35,000 Singaporean couples each year will gain from steps taken to ease the load of having a child. For example, the baby bonus payments have been extended to the first and fourth child, and will be disbursed within two years - when expenses are most critical - instead of a six-year payout period.

The extension of paid maternity leave to 12 weeks from the current eight weeks is also a boon as it had been one of the most asked-for measures.

The Government will foot the bill for this additional four-week period.

The use of the extended period has been made flexible with mothers allowed to claim it over a period of six months from the date of birth of their child. If she cannot reach an agreement with her employer over when she can take the leave, the default position is that she takes her maternity leave period as a continuous 12-week stretch.

Working parents with any child below seven years old will also be entitled to two days of employer-paid childcare leave each year - a welcome move given that one in four households have children aged below seven.

This is a significant step as fewer than 10 per cent of companies in Singapore provide childcare leave, Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen said at the press conference.

Both the extended maternity leave period and new childcare leave will be legally binding on employers when legislation takes effect from Oct 1. But the Government has already put it into effect for civil servants and is encouraging companies to do the same for employees who gave birth on or after Aug 1. It will reimburse them for the costs incurred.

Among the most sought-after demands which came across to panel members and other officials, whether at dialogues, via e-mail, letters and the like, was help on the home front. And addressing this, Mr Lim announced a lowering of the maid levy from $345 to $250 for families with children aged 12 or younger, and acknowledged the critical role grandparents can play at home in caring for children through a $3,000 tax relief working mothers can claim.

The overall approach taken by Mr Lim's Population Steering Group went beyond financial measures.

Overall, it sought, through the measures, to focus on developing an environment here in which Singaporeans will feel encouraged to start a family or to have more children.

Issues of cost aside, the team sought to provide ways to enable parents to spend more time with families, and strike a better balance between the demands of home and the workplace.

Help schemes have been made more flexible and conditions attached to such schemes have been removed or streamlined.

Various tax incentives are in place to help lighten the burden of raising children.

But unlike the old schemes, mothers do not need to meet an age criteria or a minimum education qualification - a move which shows the Government's willingness to move on from previously rigid positions.

Giving a taste of the feedback gathered, Mr Lim said, surprisingly, it was the professional women who expressed concern that any unduly long extension of the maternity leave will put them at a disadvantage in the workplace.

Mr Lim and Dr Ng acknowledged that the measures alone will not bring about a spike in the population overnight, or in nine months for that matter.

Still, given the majority of Singaporeans' belief in having a family, Mr Lim said 'what we are trying to do is change the conditions so that people can achieve what they say they desire'.