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A S$2b package to boost fertility rate

SINGAPORE — In what is the third round of enhancements to the marriage and parenthood package since its introduction in 2001, the Government is spending S$2 billion a year, up from S$1.6 billion, on measures such as giving housing priority to first-timers with children, and legalising paternity leave.

SINGAPORE — In what is the third round of enhancements to the marriage and parenthood package since its introduction in 2001, the Government is spending S$2 billion a year, up from S$1.6 billion, on measures such as giving housing priority to first-timers with children, and legalising paternity leave.

Fathers will also be able to share one week of the 16-week maternity leave with their wives. Extended childcare leave will be given to fathers and mothers, while those who adopt children will get new adoption leave benefits.

The Baby Bonus will be enhanced by S$2,000, and each newborn will be given a Medisave account, with MediShield coverage now extended to those with congenital and neonatal conditions. For those who have difficulty conceiving, the Government will help pay a bigger share of Assisted Reproduction Technology treatments.

The measures come as Singapore’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) rose slightly last year, partly due to the “mini Dragon Year impact”, as described by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean who announced the enhanced package at a press conference yesterday.

The TFR climbed from 1.2 in 2011 to between 1.28 and 1.3 last year, according to preliminary estimates.

Mr Teo said: “We hope that in the longer term we can get ... up to 2.1 but looking at the environment and what other countries and cities are facing, that really is a work in progress that will require a long time but if we can get 1.4, 1.5 in the coming years, I think that will be a good step forward.”

A TFR of between 1.4 and 1.5 would represent an additional 6,000 to 9,000 births.

Emphasising the need to build a family friendly environment, Mr Teo gave his take on the effectiveness of the new package: “We have consulted widely, and tried to find areas which are meaningful to young parents, and young persons..wanting to have children. But..employers, family, grandparents, they all play a part.”

According to the Ministry of National Development, the 16-years age limit was chosen to benefit couples with secondary school going children.

The package was put together after the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) considered more than 800 proposals and suggestions from the public and various groups such as the National Family Council, the Singapore National Employers Federation and Touch Community Services.

Mr Teo said that five key areas that received the strongest feedback were housing, conception and delivery, healthcare costs, better work-life balance and the role of fathers in having children. A lot of feedback was also given on receiving affordable and quality pre-school education, he said.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Facebook that he hopes “that the new package will encourage more couples to think of starting families”.

The enhanced measures were generally welcomed by the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

SNEF President Stephen Lee said it appreciates “that employers’ concerns have been heard and addressed to some extent”.

He said: “Maintaining the maternity leave at 16 weeks is helpful to employers in the light of the tight labour market situation. On balance and as a package, this is something that employers can support.”

Still, NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Cham Hui Fong said the labour movement hoped that “in the future working mothers can look forward to longer maternity leave of six months paid by the Government and if possible, up to another six months unpaid maternity leave”. And even though most of NTUC’s proposals were taken up, Ms Cham also noted that its suggestion for “a legislated right (for workers) to request for flexible work arrangements” was not taken up.

The Civil Service, the largest single employer here with 77,000 workers, was the first to embrace the new changes. The Public Service Division said yesterday that it implement the paternity, shared parental and extended child care leave from Jan 1 - four months ahead of the formal implementation by the Government.

Experts also welcomed the new measures, in particular, the Government-paid paternity leave.

However, National Family Council Chairmain Lim Soon Hock was cautious about the impact of the Parenthood Priorty Scheme and the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme. Citing the council’s surveys, Mr Lim said: “Time and time again, Singaporeans have told us that they want a roof over their heads before they have kids.”

But Mr Steven Tan, Managing Director of property consultancy OrangeTee, disagreed. Referring to the provisional housing scheme, he said that this will encourage couples to have children first before securing a new flat of their own.

With two children aged 8 and 10 and third child on the way, Mr Mohamed Rafie, 27, who has unsuccessfully tried for a BTO flat three times, was happy to hear about the new housing schemes. The family is living with his in-laws - there are a total of eight people living in the four-room flat in Jurong West. “There is no privacy and it’s a bit crammed because four of us stay in the same room,” he said. “Sometimes it puts a strain on (our) relationship.”

On the higher baby bonus, couples TODAY spoke to felt the S$2,000 increase would not go a long way in encouraging Singaporeans to have more children. They noted that the decision to have children is a personal choice that goes beyond the issue of money.

National University of Singapore sociologist Paulin Straughan felt the “real game changer” could be the measures promoting work-life balance.

She said: “It has the greatest potential. All the other measures are simply tokens... Work conditions is going to be the one factor that makes it difficult or not, to raise children. “

Under the new package, the government will also enhance its Work-Life Works! fund, to provide incentives to encourage employers to offer

flexible work arrangements for their employees.

On paternity leave, Associate Prof Straughan said it sends a signal on “how men and women can divide up responsibilities”. “This is significant in our traditional society, it is an attempt to normalise the new rules that govern relationships,” she said.

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