Singapore birth plan reaps mixed reviews

Last year saw the birth rate falling to an all-time low of under 40,000, which is just 1.26 births per adult female, well below the figure of 2.1 which is deemed necessary to keep the population stable. In recognition of the scale of this problem, newly-installed premier Lee Hsien Loong has pledged to launch a package of measures as one of the Government's top three priorities. However, critics see the current strategy, which aims to incentivise Singapore residents by offering a range of financial sweeteners as appealing too much to the head, and too little to the heart. "Why they are talking about incentives and finances is because it appeals to the competitive streak in Singapore," said a highly-placed PR source on condition of anonymity. "It is a failure to communicate what a joy and a gift the child is, they are instead using the duty/ national service argument." The Singapore Government introduced a range of financial subsidies over 10 years ago as part of its New Population Policy, including incentives to encourage couples to have three or more children if they could afford it. These included generous tax incentives for working mothers and childcare subsidies of S$150 (US$87) a month. However, the policy has so far failed dismally in providing the necessary filip to Singapore's increasingly child- shy populace, and the financial incentives have failed to keep pace with inflation. Alison Lim, manager at Burson-Marsteller Singapore's healthcare and corporate practice, is less critical of the Government's positioning, given the nature of the problem dogging the city. "The communications have actually got a lot faster," noted Lim. "It used to be very top-down, now it's much more soft-sell, and they do give the impression that they are listening to the feedback regular Singaporeans are giving them." Lim feels that measures such as increasing the number childcare centres is indicative of this reponsiveness. "They are doing a lot more than just telling people to have more kids." However, she does feel that current politico-led approach may turn some people off. "Obviously they have credibility, but then again there's also a bit of, 'who are you telling me how to live my life'," she said. According to the source, a better approach would be to more accurately gauge the views of Singaporean people. "One of the things would be to have a lot of focus groups with women and men from all segments of the population," said the source. "I would find out their point of view. I think they've got to do a little bit better than just have financial incentives," the source added.