MalloryKeaton

http://www.click2houston.com/family/3679435/detail.html

Singapore Pays Big Money For People To Have Babies

POSTED: 8:38 am EDT August 25, 2004
UPDATED: 9:02 am EDT August 25, 2004

SINGAPORE -- The government of Singapore is sweetening the pot for parenthood.

It is raising payments to people who have children, extending maternity leave and taking other measures to try reversing a drastic slump in the birth rate.

One official said, "Efforts to promote parenthood warrant a substantial investment."

Under the changes, the government will offer parents cash and grants totaling 3,000 Singapore dollars for having their first child, and up to $18,000 for a fourth.

Maternity leave is being extended from eight to 12 weeks and the work week for civil servants will be cut back by a half a day to give people more time with their families.

The baby shortage is a dramatic reversal. When the fertility rate shot up in the 1960s, the government feared a population explosion and launched an intensive family planning campaign that worked all too well.

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved


Anyone else think this is wrong? Seems like the gov't. there is trying to bribe people. It should be against the law to pay people to have babies. If people start having children simply because of a cash reward the children will be the ones to suffer. The parents aren't going to "really" want them.

*Lauren

Its more a bonus. 3,000 is not going to cover the costs of having a baby. They have the "baby bonus" here as well.

LittleMilkJug

I should move there. I have four kids.

Indri

Awww I would like to move to Singapore

I think Singapore ist busy country who have bigest development with economic and look like people in there very busy too, are they dont have time to marriage and having baby ?

Cail

First Germany, now Singapore.

Isn't the world overly populated enough? For heaven's sake! Is it too much too ask for a country who is sufferingly economically to urge people to adopt?

Sushi

I do not know the numbers of orphans in Singapore but it can't be that high. Singapore is so small. It could probably fit into America more than a 100 times over and It's not like the government are forcing them to have the babies. They don't have to.

I see it as more like an incentive.. I think people in Singapore work really hard (no time for making the babies) and it is really very expensive to buy houses and cars. So I think the money would be fantastic for couples who do want to start a family.

I think it's worse when a government forces people to have only 1 child like in China and you hear these horrible stories about babies being aborted when the mothers still want them e.t.c.