Singapore offers nearly €50,000 per child to fight historic birthrate crash

Singapore is rolling out a sweeping package to fight what officials call "super-aging," offering parents nearly 50,000 euros per child spread across the first seventeen years. The plan aims to pull the country's fertility rate off a historic low.

According to a YouGov survey published in August, one in four Singaporeans say they don't want children at all. The fertility rate has slipped to just 0.87 children per woman, among the lowest figures anywhere in the world. To keep the population stable, demographers say a country needs roughly 2.1.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced the new measures, which include baby bonuses, financial support for medical and educational costs, cheaper childcare, more generous parental leave, and so-called child credits that parents can use until a child turns sixteen. "The future of Singapore is as strong as the families that build it," Wong said.

The country's low fertility rate is starting to bite. There are fewer and fewer working-age people to support a growing elderly population, and Singapore is expected to officially reach "super-aged" status this year, defined by the United Nations as having more than 21 percent of the population aged 65 or older.

Still, not everyone is convinced money alone will do the trick. Iqbar Hisham, a 27-year-old construction coordinator, told The Guardian that the cost of living in Singapore is "insanely high," but added that the new policy gives her and her fiancé hope of starting a family in the future. "This support encourages me to have children as soon as possible after I'm married," she said, especially the help with childcare costs.

Singapore isn't alone. South Korea and Taiwan are also grappling with plunging fertility rates, and several European countries, including the Netherlands, have seen birth rates slide for years without launching comparable programs.