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Singapore's total fertility rate falls to historic low in 2020


The_King

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SINGAPORE: Singapore's total fertility rate (TFR) fell to a historic low of 1.1 last year, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Indranee Rajah on Friday (Feb 26).

She said that the COVID-19 pandemic caused some Singaporeans to postpone their marriage, resulting in about 10 per cent fewer marriages last year than in 2019. Others have delayed their parenthood plans, she added.

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Ms Indranee, who oversees the National Population and Talent Division under the PMO, was speaking in Parliament during the Committee of Supply debate.

East Asian societies like South Korea and Taiwan, as well as Scandinavian countries known for achieving good fertility outcomes like Finland and Norway also experienced a drop in TFR, she noted.

"Raising fertility is an uphill task for advanced societies, but we must continue to support those who wish to marry and have children," said Ms Indranee, who is also Second Minister for Finance and for National Development.

She announced during the debate that the Government will increase its dollar-for-dollar matching in the Child Development Account for a second child from S$3,000 to S$6,000.

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TFR refers to the average number of live-births each woman would have during her reproductive years. The resident TFR has been gradually declining over the past decades and was 1.14 in 2019.

Ms Indranee also told MPs that Singapore will continue to "carefully calibrate" the pace of immigration.

In 2020, Singapore gained about 21,100 new citizens and 27,500 new permanent residents. These figures are lower than previous years due to travel restrictions and operational issues arising from COVID-19, she said.

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For example, safe management measures resulted in limited slots to complete the final steps for PR and citizenship registration, which must be done in person. A few thousand applicants, who were approved in-principle, had not completed all the required processes to be granted their PR or citizenship by the end of 2020.

Depending on how the COVID-19 situation evolves, these applicants could be granted PR or citizenship in the coming months, and may add to the numbers normally granted this year, Ms Indranee said.

Source: CNA/hm(gs)

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3 hours ago, Homelander said:

 

Hard to piak if wfh...the mind is on work or piak half way got zoom call...how to enjoy

Small space

Steal lunch, low pay as compare with FT

No job security

High cost of living

Expensive housing like bto 2 room flat coat around 150k already

 

Only brain dead or rich ppl can afford to get married

  • Like 2
  • Wahaha 1
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