At a house visit this week, Jamus Lim met a couple in Sengkang who have been married for ten years and have chosen not to have children. They shared their reason with Assoc Prof Lim, “For them, it was simple: ‘Too expensive lah!’
The high cost of living in our city state, especially for middle-income households—even pre-dating the recent inflation surge—is undeniably a factor,” the Workers’ Party Member of Parliament wrote in a July 2 (Saturday) Facebook post.
Assoc Prof Lim added that because of pressures that students face to perform well at school, some couples are “also choosing to invest more in fewer children.”
He also wrote that another factor that affects this decision is the long wait for affordable housing and couples may have passed the peak years for fertility when they finally get their own place.
Assoc Prof Lim wrote that he does not believe this “state of affairs” is “inevitable.”
“Issues like education, housing, and jobs are matters of public policy, and there are known solutions that can help navigate and mitigate the forces of globalization, inequality, and technological change,” the MP, who teaches economics at ESSEC Business School, wrote.
And while there isn’t just one single solution to address the problem, Assoc Prof Lim listed several that would help: smaller class sizes, expanded skills training and recognition, broader public housing options, minimum wages, redundancy insurance, and wealth taxes.
These would also help Singapore stay competitive in the global economy, he added.
The country’s low birth rate is a problem recognized by the government, especially since it is coupled with an ageing population.
From 2000 to 2010, Singapore’s birth rate had been at 2 for every ever-married female aged 40 to 49, and in the decade that followed, it fell to 1.8.
The annual population growth decreased to 1.1 per cent leading up to 2020.
As it says in the population.gov.sg website, “Singapore’s resident Total Fertility Rate has remained below the replacement rate of 2.1 for many years. This trend reflects broad demographic and cultural shifts, with our people marrying later or not at all, and having fewer children.”
The Sengkang GRC MP ended his post on a humorous note, writing that at times he gets to meet very special residents while conducting house visits.
“Postscript: We also sometimes meet unusual residents, like this gorgeous parakeet, who (according to the family) took a liking to me, and so refused to get off my shoulder! #TeamSengkang #SengkangGRC“
/TISG
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