Not something you would see in a U.S. government publication
At preschool today I found a brochure produced by the Singapore government. Or, to be precise, the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts, and the Ministry of Manpower want Singaporeans to have babies.
The birth rate in Singapore is among the lowest in the world and, like other countries, the percentage of the population age 65 and older is growing. There is a lot of concern here about the economic implications of this demographic shift.
As a result, Singapore has instituted and recently augmented generous pro-family policies known as the “Marriage & Parenthood Package”. It is quite impressive even after converting the currency: SGD$1,000 = US$716.
For the 3.7 million Singapore citizens:
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The government’s Social Development Unit will offer networking for singles networking and is developing an accreditation system for private dating companies.
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Parents get a Parenthood Tax Rebate of SGD$5,000 for each of a family’s first two children and SGD$20,000 for each additional child, plus an additional SGD$4,000 per child (or SGD$5,500 for a disabled child).
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Working mothers receive up to 100 percent of their earned income for all her qualifying children: 15% and 20% of her income for the first two children and 25% for each additional child (capped at SGD$50,000). This policy is to encourage Singaporean citizenship for children and to encourage married women to remain in the workforce.
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Each child receives a cash gift: SGD$4,000 for each of the first two children and SGD$6,000 for the third and fourth children.
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Each child also receives a savings account, and any contributions by the parents are matched dollar-for-dollar by the government. The savings account starts with a balance of SGD$6,000 for each of the first two children, SGD$12,000 for the third and fourth children, and SGD$18,000 for each additional child.
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The government is setting up additional child care centers, is increasing the qualifications required for pre-school teachers, developing curricula and teacher-child ratios, and is giving scholarships to kindergarten teachers who want to upgrade their qualifications.
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Every Singapore child receives a subsidy of SGD$300 (infant care) or SGD$600 (childcare) per month.
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Maternity leave is 16 weeks for all Singaporean births: the first eight weeks are employer-paid and the last are government-paid (up to a cap of SGD$20,000). After two children, the full 16 weeks of maternity leave is paid by the government. You must have worked for the employer for 90 days to qualify for these benefits.
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Working parents get six days of paid childcare leave per year if they have children under the age of seven. The first three days are employer-paid, the last three days are government-paid (capped at SGD$500/day).
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The Singapore government will co-fund 50% (up to SGD$3,000) for up to three cycles of Assisted Reproduction Technology treatment such as in-vitro fertilisation.
Other countries offer the child savings accounts — they can be used for college and also designed to increase savings rates — and the Clinton administration proposed them in the United States.
But can you imagine the U.S. government offering cash bonuses for each child born in the United States?
