Singapore likely to see shortfall of babies again
By S Ramesh
SINGAPORE: 32,630 babies were born in Singapore in the first 10 months of this year, far short of the 50,000 needed to replace the population each year.
That’s according to figures obtained by MediaCorp from the Registry of Births and Deaths.
For the whole of 2008, 39,826 babies were born in Singapore.
Singapore has had three marriage and parenthood packages so far, the most recent one in 2008.
Despite such efforts, Singaporeans are not replacing themselves.
Sociologists argue that one important reason for this lack of improvement is the state of the economy.
Said Dr Chang Yau Hoon from the School of Social Sciences at the Singapore Management University: “A lot of family planning decision is being made based on the economy, like whether a person can keep their job, maintain their job. Their salary over the couple of years would be a main determinant.
“Inflation….whether there would be an expected rise and the cost of living. They would want to ensure they can provide for the family and provide a good education (for their children).
“(They would consider) whether in their particular occupation, they need mobility, especially for women…..then, they may delay having babies.”
Hence the need for Singapore to bring in new citizens to make up for the low birth numbers.
Dr Chang said: “I don’t actually see a correlation between the influx of foreign migrants and people’s decision to have more babies or not. At the end of the day there is only so much that social engineering can do. A lot of the decisions for family planning are big long term decisions and it would have to come from peoples’ confidence over the years towards the future.”
The falling trend is also evident from the number of births at Singapore’s largest hospital for women and children. From January to November this year, 11,069 babies were born at the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
The figure for 2008 was 12,535.
But some private hospitals like the Thomson Medical Centre have recorded an increase in the number of babies born at their premises. Some 8,900 babies were delivered there so far this year, compared to 8,567 births last year.
- CNA/ir
Source : Channel NewsAsia - 26 December 2009
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