Singapore to Offer Pandemic Baby Bonus Cash to Boost Birth-Rate
Singapore is using the current Covid-19 pandemic to boost its dwindling population, according to The Strait Times. Through what has been dubbed the ‘pandemic baby bonus,’ this island city-state is urging its citizens to have babies in exchange for free bonuses from the government.
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Part of the aid advanced to aspiring couples who may have postponed their plans to have kids will include a Baby Bonus Cash Gift – a one-off support measure. Details of the program are yet to be made public, even though the existing baby bonus system provides eligible parents up to S$10,000 (an equivalent of £5,644) in benefits.
The state’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat admitted that some parents had decided not to have babies in light of the Coronavirus pandemic.
He spoke about the feedback received from the self-employed and the most vulnerable, which may have triggered the ‘pandemic baby bonus’ program.
According to him though, the decision to continue the support schemes will majorly rest on the country’s labor market situation as well as its economic outlook.
Low Fertility Rates; a stark contrast to its neighboring countries
Singapore is one of the most envied countries across Asia today. The state’s tropical weather is wonderful, while its economy has been constantly growing stronger. It also has some of the cleanest streets and the lowest crime rates in the world.
However, this country is equally infamous for its stressful working environment. Citizens constantly have to toil in order to keep up with the high cost of living.
And, for many Singaporeans, having babies amidst the ordinary tough times, further compounded by prevailing financial losses, psychological stresses, and job layoffs, isn’t possible.
Low population growth rates are not something new in Singapore. Unlike its immediate neighbors, Indonesia and the Philippines whose prospects of staggering growth in post-lockdown pregnancies are all, but evident, there is nothing positive to report.
Singapore has always had one of the lowest birth rates on the planet. So far, not even the heavy bonuses have helped resuscitate the situation.
The country’s fertility rate slumped to an eight-year low of 1.14 births per woman in 2018.
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