The Workers' Party yesterday issued its population paper as a counter to what it called the Government's model of immigration-driven growth set out in its White Paper.

The WP argued that the focus should be instead on raising the total fertility rate and the resident labour force participation rate.

WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang said in a statement that the party hoped the paper "will enable Singaporeans to better understand the rationale and computations behind WP's proposals." It comes two weeks after Parliament endorsed the Government's Population White Paper, which WP MPs voted against.

The paper argues that the best way to maintain a Singaporean core is by raising fertility rather than relying on new citizens. The WP has proposed taking in 10,000 new citizens a year compared to the Government's 15,000 to 25,000.

Another key part of the WP's plan is growing the resident workforce at 1 per cent a yearand freezing foreign worker numbers at the current level.

To do this, the WP proposed getting more women and older Singaporeans into the workforce. Its target is for 85 per cent of women aged between 25 and 54 to be in the workforce, up from 76.6 per cent now.