Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Cost of Living and Children

Friday, August 20, 2010

Cost of Living and Children

Read this blog.

My view
I have made many comments in the past that the biggest obstacle to raising children is the high cost of living. Parents do not wish to be burdened with this additional responsibility. In my view, the cost of raising children have to be largely borne by society and not be the parent.

Each family should be allowed to have two children, with the cost paid by society. We have to get away from the past practice of giving tax incentive, as it only benefits the high income earners, and they are not so keen to have children.

7 comments:

StocksKeeper said...: getting married is one thing, having children is another. all about money. even some singles can't survive alone themselves due to mis-management of their money. some want to get married but no place to have as their own. some after married, no time even for each other, let alone for children, due to work. after having one child, the cost of taking care of him/her scare them from having another. it is not an easy road to travel but it is a joy and blessing to have children. :); August 20, 2010 12:07 PM
Jamesneo said...: I agree that elevating the cost might help but in reality there are other factors contributing to the low birthrate.One is that more couples are getting married much later. When they planned to have their first child some of the woman are already in their early to mid 30s, the possibility of conceiving decrease dramatically once woman reach 35 plus. Thus in many cases, the modern family will end up with one child even if there are resources provided like what Mr Tan is recommending.

The real issue that government have to provide is to reverse the age when a couple get married and have their first child. This task is make worse by the worsening job prospects for the young adults whereby more of them are holding temporary or contract jobs, by the fake "Asset appreciation policies of HDB leading to ever escalating prices", by the ever stagnating salary and lastly by the high inflation present. Unless we drastically change our economic model, we are not likely to be ever successful in addressing the declining birth rate.; August 20, 2010 12:14 PM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Hi Mr Tan,

I refer to your blog entry, "Cost of Living and Children". Whilst the high cost of living is the biggest obstacle to raising the birth rate in S'pore, there are other impediments that almost equally significant.

A key example is the sore lack of national work-life balance initiatives. Instead of instilling a family-friendly work culture amongst employers, the government does the complete opposite, imploring us to be "cheaper, better, faster" and "better, betterer, betterest". With an ultra-liberal immigration/work visa policy, many S'poreans have to work extremely hard and long hours just to keep their jobs. Is it any surprise then that we cannot afford the luxury of having kids? Dangling a couple of thousand dollars tax relief/rebate is not going to raise our birthrate meaningfully. What we need is a complete revamp of policies.

TY

Reply:
I agree with you. I have raised this point many times in my blog previously.; August 20, 2010 3:46 PM
Concerned said...: "the cost of raising children have to be largely borne by society and not be the parent.

Each family should be allowed to have two children, with the cost paid by society"

This is communist way of thinking. Even China today do away with this. Parents who do not wish to have children just because of the high cost of living are short-sighted. The love and pleasure of having children cannot be counted in dollars and cents.; August 20, 2010 4:47 PM
C H Yak said...: Q " Instead of instilling a family-friendly work culture amongst employers, the government does the complete opposite, imploring us to be "cheaper, better, faster" and "better, betterer, betterest". UQ

The strategy is "caught-in-between", very typical of the Singapore GOVT. Hence, the people are left to "ROT" ... never bold about national policies ... but they just treat as "gripe".; August 20, 2010 5:34 PM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Reply to Concern
I don't know how much you know about communism for you to label my suggestion as communist way. Many social democracy also practice similar measures. They are just being practical.
Some people associate communism with authoritanism. So-called democracies can also be authoritanism. Just open your eyes.
I believe that the communist philosophy, minus the authoritanism, is better than free market capitalism.; August 20, 2010 6:13 PM
JRT said...: The problem goes beyond just the cost of living

Maternality leave is 4 months. But i have not come across any mothers who took 4 consecutive months. They are too scared to take the leave, and there is little or nil protection for these working mothers. As for the father, it is only 3 pathetic paternal leave. There are 2 issues - weak union (employee rights) and unsupportive working environment

Children falls sick easily, and usually throws tantrum in the morning. But most of the paid employees are expected to be on time or early at work. The congested MRT does not help. When children fall sick, the MC awarded by the hospital or clinic means you are possibly entitled to take annual leave. These are not additional leave or MC. Most paid employees only have 14 annual leave, which is hardly sufficient.

If the govt is really sincere to have more married couples and higher birth rates, it will take a massive exercise as there are many issues and national policies involved. It appears that it is much easier to simply invite FT to join Singapore instead; August 20, 2010 6:23 PM