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To raise birth rate, the middle ground is fertile ground

It may be easier to get couples with one child to have a second one than to convince those with two to have a third.

In the 2025 budget, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong unveiled the Large Families Scheme, offering financial support totalling $16,000.

The writer says the intent of the Large Families Scheme, announced in Budget 2025, is commendable – parenting is an enormous emotional and financial commitment, and supporting parents is crucial to ensuring social renewal.

PHOTO: ST FILE

Kalpana Vignehsa

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Singapore’s latest initiative to address its declining birth rate presents a paradox. In the 2025 Budget, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong unveiled

the Large Families Scheme

, offering substantial financial support totalling $16,000 – equivalent to the cost of more than two years of pre-school in Singapore. However, this support will be available only to families with three or more children. Demographic realities render this approach less effective than it could be.

Recent data paints a stark picture: Among ever-married resident females aged 40 to 49, only 17.9 per cent had three or more children in 2024 – a 7.1 percentage-point decline from 2019. This downward trend is likely to continue when we consider that the fertility intentions of younger women are becoming progressively more constrained. Given this trajectory, the Large Families Scheme is likely to benefit increasingly smaller proportions of Singaporean families.

To raise birth rate, the middle ground is fertile ground

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