Notes on Population policy

Factor 1
Baby Bonus scheme

• The baby bonus scheme was enhanced in 2004 to provide cash handouts from the government for the 1st to the 4th child totaling $18,000 AND
• Dollar for dollar financing into each child’s CDA(Child Development Account) account up to $30,000.
• Baby Bonus scheme encourages couples to have more children because the money given by the govt. can help defray the cost of raising a child by buying items like diapers and milk powder.
• The CDA account money can also be used to pay for school fees and medical care for the child. The makes the cost of raising more children possible and bearable for more couples and so they may have more children as a result.
• In Singapore the cost of living can be high and raising a child can be expensive.
• But withe the baby bonus, families will have more finances to raise children and so Singaporean parents might want to have more children.

Factor 2
Pro-family measures are government policies to support family life and which give families more time and resources to raise their children. One such pro-family measure is:
a) The 5-day work week where members of the civil service work from Monday to Friday with Sat and Sun off.

• Couples are motivated to have more children because they now have more time for the children and to attend to family matters
• Singaporeans may feel that with more free time available to care for children, they may feel motivated to have more children.
• With the 5 day work week, couples now have the entire weekend to be with their children to give them quality parent-child time.
• Hence, couples may feel motivated to have more children.

b) Another pro-family measure the extended maternity leave.

• This may encourage more women to have children as mothers now have additional time to spend with their children immediately after child-birth during the crucial first few months.
• Mothers will feel it is feasible to have more children since they can spend more time after birth.
• The mothers will also have enough time to recover from the strain of giving birth. Hence, parents may be prepared to have more children to increase Singapore’s population.

c) Another pro-family measure is equalized medical benefits

• which mean both parents can use their employer’s insurance coverage to pay for their children’s medical bills. 
• This would help reduce the financial burden of children’s’ medical bills since both parents can now use their employer’s medical insurance for their children’s medical bills. 
• Hence, this would motivate parents to have more children since the cost of bringing up children is more manageable now.

d) Another pro-family measure is the $3000 tax relief for families whose grandparents lives with them.

• The parents would be able to pay less in income tax because of the tax relief of $3000 if the family stays with their grandparents. 
• With grandparents living with them, parents may feel that they do not mind having more children as there are people around whom they trust to take care of their children. 
• Hence, with more hands helping out, more parents will be encouraged to have more children.
• However, the tax incentive of $3000 does not lead to much tax savings for most Singaporeans and is not much of a motivation or reason to have more children. 

Factor 3
Attracting foreigners to Singapore

• Another way to boost the population is by liberalising the immigration law and allowing more foreigners work and live in Singapore by offering foreigners subsidized housing. jobs and attractive education package for their children.
• This can increase the population quickly because some of these foreigners may find the Singapore environment suitable for them as it is pollution free with good infrastructure and there is harmony. Some may like the quality of life here and stay on. 
• Some may marry Singaporeans, have a family here and become rooted to Singapore.
• Some may behave and feel like Singaporeans by adopting our cultural traits like the way we speak, how we dress, what we eat. This sense of connection to Singapore could eventually be so strong that they make them become Singaporeans and want to stay in Singapore for life.
• This can be an effective way to increase our population because we can easily attract many foreigners to work and live here especially given Singapore’s international standing as Asia’s most liveable city based on the 2010 Economist Intelligence Unit survey. 
• Hence, with liberal immigration policies, many foreigners may choose to become Singaporeans and this makes the attracting of foreigners to Singapore an effective way to boost the population.