By: Leong Sze Hian
Total Fertility Rate dipped to 1.20
I refer to the article “Singapore’s total fertility rate dipped to 1.20 in 2016”.
“The new data shows 33,161 Singaporean babies were born last year, about 600 fewer than in the previous year (2015). The drop pulled down the country’s total fertility rate (TFR) to 1.20. The TFR measures the average number of children per woman. It is below the previous year’s 1.24, which is well below the 2.1 rate a population needs to achieve to replace itself.”
But why is it that Singaporeans are not having enough children? Well, here are 6 likely reasons:
1. Singaporeans work the longest work hours in the world.
2. Many Singaporeans earn some of the lowest incomes in the world among developed countries.
3. Singapore is the most expensive city in the world.
4. Singapore has one of the weakest labour protection laws in the world.
5. Singapore has the most open foreign labour policies among developed countries.
6. A lot of Singaporeans fear losing their jobs.
How many of you have seen a friend, relative or colleague suffer together with their family and children, when they lose their jobs – or had substantial cuts in income or had hardly any real increase in income for years?