Total Fertility Rate
Sir, it was earlier mentioned this year that Singapore's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has picked up slightly to 1.20. That it has gone up is good news but this is still well below the replacement level of 2.1, and certainly a big area of concern. Yet the Budget 2012 does not seem to have taken this into consideration.
Since the Baby Bonus Scheme started in 2001, almost S$2 billion in Baby Bonuses have been given out. While it can be argued that the scheme did indeed have a positive impact, it is almost negligible. Since its inception in 2001 and enhancement in 2008, there has been no significant improvement to the declining birth rate.
It has been shown that low fertility arises from factors like: more people remaining single, people marrying later in life, as well as having children later in life or even not having any children. I propose efforts to tackle our low TFR focus on factors like these instead and less on quick fixes like bringing in young immigrants.
Indeed, there have also been calls from the public for help from the government, to help make raising families in Singapore more affordable, like providing additional paternity and childcare leave, and building more subsidised childcare facilities and achieving a better work-life balance.
Finally, given that the TFR for married couples are at 2.0, the government must find ways to encourage people to get married and stay married as well.
Paternity leave
Sir, first let me declare my interest as a Board Member for the Centre for Fathering. Today, I revisit a topic that I have been pushing for a few years - paid paternity leave.
We know the importance of the father's involvement in a child's growing up years, as Minister Chan Chun Sing himself mentioned in a Conference for Social Service Practitioners in July 2011. Research has shown that children do better mentally, socially, emotionally and academically when their fathers are involved in their lives.
The opposite is true as well: fathers' absences are linked to higher rates of delinquency and psychological problems in the children. An AWARE-led survey conducted between October 2010 and January 2011 found that 91% of over 1000 respondents wanted to have mandated paternity leave, ranging from at least six days to as many as 14 days. The survey also found that 75% of the fathers would apply for paternity leave to spend time with their children, if there was that option.
Given that there is both reason and demand for paid paternity leave, I hope the Ministry can consider supporting my proposal for legally mandated paternity leave.
In addition, the Ministry could grant the flexibility for parents to apportion their paternity and maternity leave according to their needs. In a previous COS debate, I had also suggested that the fourth month of maternity leave could be gender neutral that can be taken by either parent. This could be something that government can consider in future.
Sir, many companies including the civil service have given fathers day off. We all agree that allowing fathers to spend more time and build stronger bonds with their children is an important step to take in promoting cohesive and harmonious families.
So, I urge the Government to consider legislating paternity leave. We start small – 2 days will do. A symbolic but important move.
Sustainable Population Growth
Sir, over the years Singapore has grown as a nation, and even more so in terms of population. Indeed, figures from the Singapore Department of Statistics show that Singapore's population has increased by almost one million people in each of the last two decades!
Of this, the number of permanent residents also seems to be decreasing while the number of non-residents seems to be increasing in the last two years. By contrast, Singapore citizens growth seem to be negligible.
How is our population policy working out then, if at all? I hope DPM can give us an update on the plans going forward.
Since the focus on population growth in the mid-2000s, our population has grown by about 800,000 inhabitants, but given that the bulk of this increase is attributed to the growing number of non-residents, how sustainable is this 'population growth'?
In addition, the problem of land constraint is a very real one. From 1960 to present, Singapore has reclaimed about 70 square kilometres of land. Is that sufficient, however?
Given that Singapore's population will likely increase by two million by 2030 and that the increase in land area might only be about another 100 square kilometres, is our target for land reclamation a realistic and feasible one?
