By Elishya Perera
SINGAPORE (CWBN)_ Singapore will offer a one-time payment to aspiring parents during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat stated that they’ve received feedback that the pandemic has caused aspiring parents to postpone their parenthood plans. “This is fully understandable, especially, when they face uncertainty with their income,” he said. However, the amount of the payment is yet to be decided.
This will be, in addition to the baby bonus scheme, cash gifts, special saving accounts and many other baby bonuses already being provided by the government, as Singapore has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. According to the Department of Statistics of Singapore, in the year 2019, a total of 39,279 live births were recorded. In contrast, in neighbouring Philippines, unintended pregnancies are forecast to spike to 2.6 million, if movement restrictions induced by the pandemic remain until year-end, according to the United Nations Population Fund.
According to Professor Jean Yeung, director of the Centre for Family and Population Research, “Singleness rate is the most important reason fertility rate in Singapore is low”. However, the economic impact of the pandemic appears to be aggravating the matter. Despite many successful measures implemented by the government in response to the pandemic, revised government data showed Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by a record 13.2 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, versus the 12.6 percent drop seen in advance estimates.
While the government pumped in nearly 100 billion Singapore dollars ($72bn) worth of stimulus, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) had eased its monetary policy in March, in response to the pandemic. Singapore is one of the world’s most open economies, exporting about 200 percent of its economic output. Meanwhile, other large Asian economies, such as Japan, are also set to report steep drops into recession.
