Mr Wong, who is also chairman of the National Population Committee, is tasked with addressing the challenge of growing Singapore's population.

He sketched the trends behind Singapore's fertility rate of 1.29 last year, far below the 2.1 replacement rate: More are not getting married; more are marrying later; and more are having children - and fewer of them - later.

Dr Ahmad Magad (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) and Madam Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC) wanted to know what is being done about this.

Responding, Mr Wong revealed that the Government studied countries with high fertility rates, such as Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France and Britain.

'The Nordic countries, in particular, have generous family benefits to support couples in having and raising children. They have provided some useful learning points,' he said.

They have combined birth rates of above 1.8 with high female labour force participation rates of between 65 per cent and 75 per cent, he noted.

'In Singapore, people generally want to work and have children too, but we have not been as successful in this regard compared to other countries,' Mr Wong said.

But he added that Singapore will not be able to import these schemes wholesale.

It needs to be 'mindful of the differences in the political, economic and social environment and the tax regimes between Singapore and these countries'.

For instance, the Nordic countries have a high tax regime. Denmark has a personal income tax rate of up to 63 per cent and a value-added tax rate of 25 per cent.

At the same time, the Nordic countries are operating in a homogeneous high-cost region in Europe that is characterised by high social spending funded by very high taxes.

'These countries are able to adopt the same socio-economic structure as they are competing against one another on a level footing,' he said.

Singapore, on the other hand, is in a fast-growing and competitive region where operating costs are generally much lower.

'If we're to offer the same generous levels of social subsidies as in the Nordic countries, we will have to raise our taxes very significantly,' Mr Wong said.

'But to do so would also mean that we price ourselves out of the Asian market. Well-educated Singaporeans will leave and businesses will shift their operations overseas. We simply can't afford to lose them.'

Thus, Singapore has to decide what can work for it, 'based on what we can afford and our local context'.

At the end of the day, he said, societies that want to prosper must place strong emphasis on children and family life.

Whether it is in fathers playing a more active role in child-rearing, or supporting mothers to return to work, Singaporeans must want to encourage marriage and parenthood, Mr Wong said.

'Such a societal mindset is necessary before any measure can take effect.'

xueying@sph.com.sg