Forum: Reliance on grandparents for child-minding duties is misguided
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I refer to the Opinion piece “ Grandparents could solve Singapore’s childbearing woes, but are they willing?
I think the reliance on grandparents for child-minding duties is misguided. Grandparents have already raised one generation of children, and it is not their duty nor responsibility to raise a second generation of children.
Most grandparents are retirees. They have the right to take life easier and pursue what they wish to do, which they could not do when they were working. Many may have various chronic ailments and may not be physically capable to cope with the demands of looking after young children.
Over the years, the solutions to the low fertility rate have been mostly monetary and the provision of physical infrastructure. There is a much broader scope of issues at play, such as the career stability of parents, the stresses of the education system in Singapore, the lack of space at home, the financial cost and opportunity cost to the families with stay-home parents looking after the children.
Would the policymakers consider novel ideas to resolve these issues, such as setting aside a support package to fund parents who stay home to look after their children up till the age of 12, and reimburse them 50 per cent of their last take-home pay before they stopped working to look after their newborn children? The reimbursement could be on a decreasing percentage yearly from year five till year 12.
Get innovative in resolving this very critical problem. The old methods do not motivate parents to have children or more children if they already have one.
Chan Chong Leong
