SINGAPORE: A man and his wife considering having another child wondered about the feasibility of doing so, asking parents in Singapore if they’re also “feeling the pinch of raising kids with the high cost of living?”
In a post on r/askSingapore, a Reddit forum on Friday (Nov 1), he explained that he and his wife already have one daughter.
Together, they earn over S$10,000 a month. However, they also have ageing parents whom they support financially.
As for himself, he confesses to feeling the pinch of increased living costs as he and his wife are part of the “sandwich class,” even though their combined salary is higher than the median in Singapore.
He added they are not big spenders and do not splurge on enrichment classes or expensive holidays. His post resonated with many Reddit users, as well as parents and non-parents alike.
One much-upvoted comment came from someone who said they were “Already feeling the pinch without kids.”
Others, however, seemed to question the post author, saying that a combined income of S$10,000 should be enough, especially if they live in public housing because rent or mortgage is a significant part of the budget of young families.
A Reddit user wrote that if the post author had a car and lived in a condominium, then their combined salaries would not be enough to live on.
Another encouraged the post author and his wife to take action immediately if they want a second child, as conceiving later on can be a real challenge.
What they need to do first, however, is to carefully plan their financial arrangements to manage both their kids and parents.
One expressed sympathy for the couple and underlined how hard it is when one’s parents do not have retirement adequacy and need an allowance from their children.
A commenter said that with two children, a combined income of S$11,000 to S$12,000 should be enough “if you stick to government school, no tuition, holidays in Malaysia or Batam.”
In 2019, a study from NTUC Income revealed that 80 per cent of the respondents said they believe they’ll become the next Sandwich Generation, caught between caring for their ageing parents and their young children.
Over half said they felt they could break free from the Sandwich Generation, and many already discussed financial preparedness and retirement adequacy with their parents.
However, some respondents have also said they would have fewer children, or none at all, to avoid getting stuck in the Sandwich Generation trap. /TISG