Singapore’s Struggle to Grow its Population

Singapore is struggling with a major problem. Its native population cannot sustain itself naturally. The country's fertility rate has been amongst the lowest in Asia.
In this video, I want to talk about the rise and fall of a demographic number, the government's struggle to control it, and the far-reaching repercussions of it not being able to do so.
Links:
The Asianometry Newsletter: asianometry.com

[@JunixKuizon]

I was a Foreign Talent before settling in Australia. It’s impossible to settle down with family in Singapore. The pay and work life balance in countries like Australia is so much better. Some more, i see my kids having better childhood and education in Australia.

[@lzh4950]

Well in 2018 I rmb S'pore's PM once said something like: "But our immigrants from less developed countries aren't asking for work-life balance"

[@edgregory1]

Social media has degraded interpersonal skills. Phone zombies.

[@richarddo7881]

and if you have a son, that mean no 2 years of slavery military conscription for your kid

[@StephenRayner]

What do you do for work / education. This channel is excellent.

[@Asianometry]

I am a financial analyst.

[@leanderbarreto6523]

@@Asianometry self taught?

[@spicemasterii6775]

I concur. Excellent channel.

[@jameskamotho7513]

One of the best. I did find it hard to follow some topics like the one lithography foundries...

[@90taetaeya]

The 1970s Stop at Two campaign totally backfired. Now most stop at 1 and more and more are even at “don’t even have 1”.

[@1966bluemax]

They don’t have natural resources anyway

[@spicemasterii6775]

Is that because of expenses?

[@tankman20064]

@@spicemasterii6775 lazy to have sex

[@popcorn6931]

Population policies all over the world is laughable. Rich becomes richer. The older you get the more marketable you become. Old men can now afford plenty of mistresses. The young men who is supposed to start a family are now busy working as uber drivers.

[@aniksamiurrahman6365]

As a biologist, if I see any other populaiton going through this stage, I'll say that population is at its dying stage. Biologically speaking, human population is pretty close to its death stage. Only some innovation, big enogh to rival the invention of agriculture can rescue us.

[@bunyu6237]

@@aniksamiurrahman6365 isn't the population decline in biology is correlated with devastation of resource instead of directly because of population?

[@aniksamiurrahman6365]

@@bunyu6237 Not devastation, just depletion. Depletion of resource. As population grows, more and more people consumes the resuource leading to depletion. As a result there comes a time when - first there's just not enough for everyone, then there's not enough for anyone. You might say - this isn't happening for humans. But our "wealth and assest" ultimately comes from the environment. And if we take resource depletion in the environment, it becomes clear that we humans too are facing resource depletion on a global scale.

[@Sakazuki_Bepu]

@@aniksamiurrahman6365 Basically, we cannot have infinite growth on a finite resources.

[@abushook8626]

but it makes sense tho since that is their hard work through all these years

[@mathieug6136]

Good overview! They usually refer to foreign talents as FTs, which is also an abbreviation for foreign trash. I had great years there still, the food culture is great, you can meet people from so many places and you can go to Bali on weekend when you wish. I do understand the resentment of locals toward foreigners as big inflow of qualified workers just push the salary down for everyone. A fresh engineering grad has a laughable salary vs. all that is needed to start a family. The wealth gab between rich and poor is ridiculous and that won't change as they feel it is meritocratic, which is probably a big illusion.

[@lzh4950]

8:38 Singapore should have less issue down the line with funding the government's social policies promised to elders' as instead of pensions, the retired are expected to live off compulsory savings made back when they were working (under it's Central Provident Fund (CPF) scheme), so it's more self-sustaining financially & less dependent on government funding. Since employers are legally required to chip in to fund these savings too, & the CPF scheme is for locals & PRs but not other foreigners though, there's also concern that they might favour hiring foreigners over PRs & locals since then the employer can save on having to chip in

[@Talktoyoulater123]

From Singapore here. My hypothesis is that groups that value competition against each other over community tend to see lower birth rates. Many Asian cultures, Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese have moved towards a nuclear family unit, me being better than others culture. This leads to a sense that if my child does not have enrichment and resources, they will be outcompeted and "left for death". When asked, many of these groups cite cost of raising a child but when digging deeper, there is huge inflation as they want to secure the success of their child. This leads to preference for fewer children to devote larger resources to. The hypercompetitive mindset means people aren't very charitable to foster community, and are in turn afraid about "losing" as they do not have a strong safety net. This is in great contrast to the malay community where a person's career, "status", wealth does not influence how they support each other as a wider extended family as much.

[@2DarkHorizon]

You make a good point. But I also think people are in a mirage they are in control of their social life. Having a good social life is a mind set. If you are accustomed to think a certain way it is so ingrained nothing can change it. It becomes like your whole self. So asking more people to get married or having more children it wont happen even with giving financial support. It is a slow culture over taking everything.

[@lzh4950]

Yup perhaps some races/cultures are more competitive-minded while others are more laid-back e.g. my father (Chinese) had found it difficult to fathom that 1 of my English teachers (who's Malay) had earlier switched from a Merill Lynch career because he preferred to have more family time

[@Qwuiet]

East Asians are the most particular people. They like their life a certain specific way, they have high expectations for themselves and others. They’d rather stay single if their viable partner doesn’t meet their expectation.

[@Qwuiet]

@BlackBannerz yes that’s why white men is the number one dating preference for most East Asian Americans. Pure racism

[@jeems2066]

Generally the wealthier the population the lower the replacement rate. If you dig deeper into the stats, the Malay community here has a much higher replacement rate than the Chinese or Malays. It is also generally known that the Malay community as a whole is not as wealthy as the other races. I'll also say that while the general wealth in the Chinese and Indian communities is higher, this is also due to the cultural mindset of being more competitive than others, and this does lead to the stronger focus on $ rather than raising a family, so as to achieve what one feels is a comfortable financial baseline before building a family. Rich families don't have that issue and so they do tend to have more children. Of course the middle class is a much bigger sub-population so the higher number of children in rich families don't really do much to prop up the low birthrates.

[@lzh4950]

That could mean that Singapore will have demographic shifts in the future i.e. Malays & Indians (whose replacement rate is in-between that of Chinese & Malays) will become bigger minority races than they are now

[@sauravthegreat]

@Edwin Thomas he was talking about indians in Singapore not india

[@justcommenting4981]

I think it's a mistake to place high child birth rates for poor communities which to my knowledge is true globally, on cultural values. I think there is a psychological element that causes that correlation, but I don't think it's a cultural connection because it happens globally.

[@justcommenting4981]

@Edwin Thomas I completely disagree with the first sentiment. Culture is a reflection of material conditions, not some entrenched heritable quality. That's why consistently you see the same behaviors distributed along class lines. I agree that it changes, but only due to a change in those conditions, be it linguistic or economic. Culture is the previous experience grafted onto existing conditions and it is the actual conditions that predict behavior. The main 2 being population density and economic status.

[@msallehuddinsoeb]

wrong, many rich population will often have less kids

[@arpitbharti6245]

They've tried paying people money, have they tried paying them in time? A 4 day workweek will reduce the stresses of work immensly.

[@Destroytion]

The thing is, Singapore only has like 5mil+ people, while most other countries with the same problem has tens of millions of people. This means the effects are much more pronounced, and the problem is too fast for Singapore to cope with.

[@nilnil8072]

Correction, Singapore have 5m+ population with almost 2m of foreigner working here... singapoeans only 3m+ so the problem is worse actually

[@lzh4950]

Might be interesting to compare Singapore with other developed countries with similar populations but spread out over much larger land areas e.g. Scandinavian ones, Ireland, Finland; I'm guessing they might face additional challenges e.g. village depopulation as their population is more spread out also

[@ivanteo1973]

5mil+ for a land area of 734 square km area. go figure out.

[@lobsterbark]

This is a problem that the Soviet Union figured out ages ago, but everyone ignored their discoveries because of reflexive anti-communism. The Soviet Union found that if you take care of every families need for food, education, etc, no matter how educated a family is they will naturally grow to fill the housing they are given. They found that if you give a family room for four children, they will have four or five children. If you give them room for two, they will have two or three, and if they have three they will complain about the lack of space. This is how every other animal behaves in nature, they will naturally reproduce slightly more than the environment can sustain, so its not surprising that its also how humans behave. When you are extremely poor, your standards for childcare are low, and so the cost of each additional child is low. You are too poor to afford to save for retirement, so its best to have a lot of children, do your best to make them successful in life, and love them so you will have plenty of people to take care of you when you get old. Whats more, having more children means they have more siblings to look out for each other, making them more likely to succeed. When your standard of living rises, your standard for childcare rises, and so the cost per child rises. Your ability to have children then becomes restricted by your ability to pay for them, especially for their housing. If your standard of living now calls for one bedroom per child, having five children means you need to be able to afford a small mansion. In societies where its normal for parents to be too overworked to adequately take care of their children, the cost of a nanny becomes the main financial barrier to having more children. A core part of a higher standard of living is better education. This is not only part of the standard, its what drives productivity, which is what pays for a nicer life. But the education is not what causes the lower birth rate, its the higher cost per child. Knowing this, its obvious that small financial incentives aren't enough to make people have more children. I don't know exactly how much the cost of living is in Singapore, or how much $1000 or $2000 per year is in real terms there, but I highly doubt its anywhere near to enough to cover the cost of taking care of a child. The only way an incentive is going to be enough to make people have more children is if its enough to pay for those children. There are many comments talking about cultural values being a main driver of birthrate, but I don't believe that that is all that important. Culture is changed by material circumstances, it morphs itself to adapt to what people are living in. So if material circumstances change so that having fewer children makes sense, the culture will change to reflect that.

[@bunyu6237]

I never heard of this before, this is a very logical take, and seems interesting. Do you have any resource I can read further?

[@kphamcao]

Very good take. I also don't think it has anything to do with culture, the stats make it painfully obvious that it's about how wealthy a country become.

[@lzh4950]

Some costs associated with child-rearing have definitely risen over time in Singapore, where I reside e.g. milk powder prices have risen so much (S$50-80/tin now; or ~US$35-60) that the government has setup a task force to look into it, which I think has also been partially attributed to demand for child-rearing-related goods & services being more price inelastic - since parents want the best for their children, it's believed they'd be more willing to pay more for child-rearing goods & services e.g. childcare, which was ~$250/month ~20 years ago (at government-run ones; private operators could charge closer to S$1000) when I was a child but ~S$900 today. Monthly school bus fares was also ~s$40 ~20 yrs ago (which has been traditionally lower than market rates) but can be ~$200+ now, which on the flip side has also brought them closer to market rates I think (~S$120/trip/~47-seater bus), so drivers might not be as incentivised to ferry students to school much earlier than school starting time (I've heard it can be up to 50min before the school start time of 0715h; though in my school the buses usually reach around 7 instead, but anyway it still means that students have to wake up even earlier for school), as that'd allow drivers to also ferry factory workers (who're more profitable as their employers pay market rates for the service, & factories here, including their offices), usually start work around 0800h). For comparison, a fresh graduate's starting pay here is around S$3-4k monthly

[@dj_koen1265]

Glad someone said this

[@mwanafalsafa3613]

F

[@jas7256]

huh, i mistakenly thought the policy promoting highly educated women to have babies was eugenics before watching this vid. great video, a lot of the problems faced by singapore are now creeping up on china, and it'll be quite interesting to see how they deal with the problem in the future.

[@creatoruser736]

.....WTF?

[@Asianometry]

Yeah, I hear you. That’s some bizarreness there. I think the thing most eugenicists tend to forget is that they’re usually not the ones choosing the rules. I don’t necessarily believe the Singaporean policy is eugenics. And for any rate it is clearly not working.

[@Teddypally]

It was eugenics. Then again the stop at 2 was also eugenics. All the tax breaks based on births are eugenics. Foreign talent is also eugenics. It isn't that uncommon, parents want their children to marry good mates, that's eugenics too. The question is whether something like preferring children to marry good mates is effective as government policy. The answer to that is simple, no.

[@guitarazn90210]

@@Asianometry Lee Kuan Yew personally believes intelligence is 70% genetics and 30% environment. That policy has been raised in several of his interviews and he makes it pretty clear that it's at least partially influenced by eugenics.

[@shastasilverchairsg]

Yes it is. The first PM believed very strongly in genes. Though that Graduate Mothers Scheme faced huge backlash when it was introduced and it had to be repealed after one year.

[@HKspurs10]

i'm from singapore, i think that factors considered when choosing immigrants shouldn't just be about what talent or skills they bring to the economy, but also how compatible they will be socially to the native population. I believe there is an unspoken factor when we choose our foreigners. For instance, we actually prioritise malaysian born indians and chinese as they are very similar to singaporeans culturally and many have relatives and inter marriage is very common.

[@blupeppers6437]

Oh maybe they can do a cultural classes for before agreeing to a visa ?

[@myerwerl]

What about malaysian malay?

[@HKspurs10]

@@myerwerl same

[@bunyu6237]

@@blupeppers6437 Cultural class wouldn't do shit, it just adds more complicated system. One good comparison is the moral class at school or HR 'class' does it really do something? I don't think so

[@lzh4950]

@@myerwerl Malaysian Malays might have less incentive to migrate/commute to Singapore for work I guess than since Malaysia's government policies give them priority I heard

[@aniksamiurrahman6365]

7:30 Such monetary incentives are never gonna work. Taking a child is very costly and very risky. Raising a child is as rewarding as its stressful though. But these days its very hard to not become anxious about what future has for your offspring, specially if you're a mid income. It takes a village to raise a child. If you want people to take more children, you need to bring that village back. Only good family bonding can raise the population, not some paltry alms given by the govt.

[@piernikowyloodek]

Among all the financial transfers, tax breaks and extended family leaves, one strategy that has not been tried in earnest is to make having children be less devastating for your job prospects. Some aspects of such policy would be: - truly available childcare starting from 1+ y.o; - Caring responsibilities genuinely shared between the two parents - generous paternity leaves is a good start; I’m also sympathetic to some commenters stating that a culture plays a role. I don’t disagree. I come from a place where children are largely raised by the grandparents. It’s more difficult nowadays with young people moving to the cities but any incentive to make it more possible would be a game changer. Anyway, these are the things that would make me look way more positively on having kids. I never feel like voices of women get thru to many policy makers. That's why we end up with band aid solutions like "if I wire you 1000$ is that helpful"?

[@etbadaboum]

The most worrying trend affecting advanced countries.

[@retiredinbali9565]

Nothing worrying about it at all. It's great news for the environment.

[@shysmy19]

@@retiredinbali9565 Lmao are u joking? Modern people are becoming increasingly selfish and pathetic

[@willblack8575]

@@retiredinbali9565 lol only the advanced countries try to make better for the environment...the rest burn shit like no tomorrow...you are dumb AF

[@doloresvangaal2248]

@BlackBannerz as long as their are people, someone will run the country. And If there are no people left, then that's not a problem either .

[@Jon-bf2rs]

A small country already overpopulated with 6 million people but the govt wants to continue to 10 million. Reason - sustain the economic growth.

[@tokitoyotokitoyo]

More like importing more new citizen votes

[@patrickdunning6886]

One thing that really drops birth rates is real estate costs and housing shortage. People are spending very high percentages of their income on housing and its only going up higher and higher as time goes by. If you want to grow a population building houses/apartments etc like crazy and get the prices right down so people are spending bugger all of their income on real estate. It's very important.

[@c.j.3404]

Except singapore dosnt have a housing market, its basically all public and is very resobly priced.

[@Jsmith1611]

It's simple math, the childcare and educations costs grow at a faster rate than income. So unless you make those costs free then no one want's to have kids.

[@sebastiangruenfeld141]

Can you do a video on taxes in Singapore? Singaporean government revenue is ca 17% of GDP, while it is 30% in the US and 47% in Germany, which makes me think that tax rates are way lower in Singapore. How can the Singaporean government be so responsible in taxing its population? Considering that Singapore continuously ranks among the best in the world in healthcare and education, I wonder how the government can afford this and if western governments are wasting money.

[@lzh4950]

Singapore's government spending as a % of GDP is relatively low too I recall (~25%, & our biggest component of government spending (defence) is 'just' 3.5% of GDP), & it's less on welfare handouts/benefits (because there isn't much populist political pressure to have that; we can argue that it'd be delusional/spoilt to demand that because we lack natural resources, we used to be poor & don't want to be complacent etc.) but more on longer-term projects e.g. - career retraining & other education (as a small, densely populated country, we probably have more economies of scale, as our population is spread over a smaller area, so you can serve them with fewer bigger schools (typically ~1600-2400 students/school, & previously we had some classes schooled in the morning & others in the afternoon, so each classroom can be reused daily by 2 classes, saving on the infrastructure needed). They typically get closed down/merged with other schools once the student population dips below ~500 (3 classes per level in secondary schools, which is equivalent to 7-10th grade), but in more rural areas in other countries I think some schools won't even have that many students. - infrastructure (might help too that construction labour is cheaper since they're mostly migrant workers who remit their pay to their families living in countries where costs of living are lower, & aren't allowed to move to Singapore to live too (unless they're working here too). The government can be quite conservative with expanding transport infra too sometimes e.g. waiting for a neighbourhood to be populated for a few decades before adding a train station there, usually choosing the lowest bidder for construction projects (though sadly some contractors have gone bankrupt halfway). Fortunately public transport fares are cheaper here, probably because while other countries may discourage private transport by having highways privatised & higher tolls charged by the private companies that have the highways' concessions, or having more expensive parking fees in downtown, which leads to the negative externality of private transport e.g. congestion, air pollution be internalised by private companies, in Singapore these are internalised by the government instead e.g. high car taxes, though parking & tolls are cheaper (our roads aren't privatised either), & the government can use the derived revenue to fund public transport projects), - health insurance (but our government's healthcare spending/subsidies can be more discriminating in some circumstances e.g. 1 of my ex-schoolmate's mother was reportedly not insured by the government's vaccine insurance programme when she faced chronic arm pain after her Pfizer-B&T CoViD-19 injection & had to go for physiotherapy/TCM treatment, as our Ministry of Health allegedly refused to recognise that as a "vaccine injury" (& might've blamed that on other factors in her lifestyle too e.g. other pre-existing (?) chronic illnesses/ailments). Another countrymen also found himself disqualified from public health subsidies at a public hospital that he was referred to by an outpatient doctor (who wasn't sufficiently equipped to treat his condition) as that doctor was in a private instead of a government clinic. Dental procedures are also often not insurable in this country, & our government had also announced it'll refuse to subsidise treatment for those who travel overseas (earlier on) & now unvaccinated people too, if they get infected by the pandemic.)

[@shastasilverchairsg]

Because we have no welfare.

[@francisleesc]

Below is my personal view as a locally born Singaporean: Singapore gov. open door policy to bring in new citizens is not entirely about sustaining the economy. Over the years, the ruling party has been losing popularity among the locally born Singaporeans. True blue Singaporeans are feeling uncomfortable with the current ruling party that amasses too much power and becomes arrogant. Frequent abusing of power is also an issue that Singaporeans has been experiencing. Residents living in consitituents run by opposition are often punished by depriving of certain amentities. To ensure ruling power they have been resorting to growing the population by whatever means over the years to garner gratitude votes. We have been observing time and again that months prior to generation elections, the gov. would speed up offering citizenship to PRs. So economic consideration is just to smoke screen the greater hidden agenda!

[@michaelshih8163]

But Singaporeans would say "who cares? We are rich." Well, Singapore is not rich given how expensive things are, and Singapore is losing its population. I, for one, ran away in 2013 with my family although I was making $200k a year as a university professor and we never looked back. Singapore is too materialistic and the country has no compassion for Others. It is well known and debated in Singapore, for example, that if a pregnant woman boards a bus or MRT train, not one, not one, person would give up their seats for her. The media often report incidents where maids are abused by their employers or fell to their deats from being made to clean HDB windows. And Singapore transport foreign workers from place to place in open pick-up trucks (lorries) with no seats or seat belts. It is incredible that there are compassionless societies like this. It is also hot and humid like hell. Life is basically unbearable there for the not so rich.

[@ksm-7184]

I agree, I’m Singaporean and have migrated to Taiwan. A healthy and warm culture are absolutely essential for me.

[@jansenart0]

I think they expected those metal trees to be overgrown with foliage but forgot that there's a natural limit to plant height based on vasculature.

[@tatagata6268]

You get what you value. As long as a mother of 4 kids is regarded as a dumb housewife and a woman having a bullshit job in a bank as a modern emancipated woman there is no room for children. Why bother with kids, if you are promised that other peoples kids will pay your old age benefits? The couple with 3 kids spend their holidays in a 3 star hotel, the couple with 1 kid in the 5 star hotel, and so on. Having kids is akin to a vow of poverty.

[@piernikowyloodek]

I think if men began more actively participating in raising children I bet the view of it being such a thankless, worthless task that only lowers your social status would slowly dissipate.

[@kamaruleffendi]

Malaysia fertility rate is 1.8. but it differ between races. Malay 2.2 while chinese and indian 1.4

[@lzh4950]

Singapore's TFR broken down meanwhile is ~1.06 for Chinese, 1.96 for Malays & somewhere in-between (I couldn't remember the exact number) for Indians

[@wric01]

Priced out of living.

[@tankman20064]

Import a lot why worry ?

[@jon9103]

9:00 or do what boomers do in the US, squeeze the younger generation to work more for less and then call them lazy for complaining and back up your claims by neglecting inflation when comparing salaries.

[@gnorwgnihtondidreltiH]

Don't worry - it's already been happening for some time in Singapore.

[@keithw4920]

Git back to work ya slacker!

[@Molloy1951]

You don’t change customs in a few years and agains not only all odds of contemporary life but against decades long public policies. Mr Lee Kuan Yew was among the top 3 state-man of the 20th century but regarding Singaporean population growth, it was short sighted .

[@lauhunghoe3840]

The Singapore Government should help subsidise child care and take care of the growing child to allow working couples to work in peace if it wants to encourage more child birth.

[@Spankee99]

Definitely a good policy, but when implemented elsewhere around the world it has almost no effect on fertility. This is one of those problems that we still haven’t found a good solution to yet.

[@alvinlin8140]

These policies don’t work. What’s keeping fertility down isn’t money but mindset of the people. Feminist countries (Or countries with a feminist mindset) won’t ever have a high enough fertility with the exception of Israel because of its massive fertility rate of Orthodox Jews (who aren’t feminist) who are becoming a larger and larger percent of the population due to it. For an example look at Syria, a total shit show with civil war and poverty and yet the fertility rate is 2.5 but people in rich and stable western counties somehow have a average of 1.5.

[@Ccb88888]

Some countries. (France, Denmark, Sweden) have been able to keeep their TFR fairly high with a mixture of tax incentives and highly subsidised childcare. Singapore actually hasn’t gone that far. On the topic of immigration, I actually think that if the decline in population is gradual, population decline is no bad thing. Germany for e.g., lost a million people in 2000-2015, but still grew its GDP. This is better for the environment, and GDP per capita increases. Most Western European societies have turned away from the immigration solution to some extent. In developed Asia, Singapore actually stands out for its liberal immigration policy. I don’t think societies in Korea. Japan, Taiwan or HK would remain stable with the type of mass immigration Singapore has experimented with.

[@jacksonneptune4083]

There is no getting away from it. Let's not embrace Pollyannaism. Either birth rate increases for Western countries and for Asian countries like Taiwan or Singapore or they resort to mass immigration. If not, their societies die.

[@alvinlin8140]

@@jacksonneptune4083 if you resort to mass migration then you still die out

[@laocheebye]

Singapore's GDP is very much a propped up figure based on the amount of foreign workers we keep importing. What's a really top SG company making waves on the global scene?? We have no real economy or productivity it's all a bubble.

[@kinnish5267]

mostly Muslims reproducing not native French

[@lzh4950]

In some ways Singapore's immigration policy is liberal (non-citizens are almost 40% of our population (including PRs), & our politicians often espouse the importance of being open, & previously foreigners got the same healthcare subsidies as locals, & still can do so for university education if they sign a 3-yr bond to work in a local company (including foreign ones that have operations here) after graduation). In other ways it isn't though e.g. 40-60% of foreigners (excluding PRs) are blue-collar workers e.g. domestic helpers, construction workers mostly under the Work Permit scheme, which has some similarities to the _kafala_ system used in the Middle East e.g. cannot change jobs unless you leave Singapore & re-apply for a new job & residency permit, need health check-ups 2x/year & can be deported for having STDs, cannot marry or become pregnant locally. A possible advantage of this arrangement I can think of is that the government is less likely to face social problems e.g. it can have less unemployed people locally, who might be more incentivised to commit crime e.g. robbery, if it requires foreigners looking for work to secure Singapore employment 1st before coming over (as required by the scheme I think)

[@shang-hsienyang1284]

Perhaps you could discuss this topic, but about Taiwan.

[@Asianometry]

Yeah I’m thinking of it. Got any angles I should explore?

[@shang-hsienyang1284]

@@Asianometry On the surface, couples who don't have children often claim it's due to financial reasons. However, based on personal observations, I think there is some mentality aspects as well.

[@Asianometry]

That’s a good angle. I’ll take look at it!

[@Spankee99]

@@shang-hsienyang1284 that’s been my observation as well. I think the near universal failure of financial compensation to incentivize reproduction really proves this.

[@nathandepew3249]

Nice Cupertino Library picture!

[@Asianometry]

Sadly while I was at the actual Singaporean library I neglected to take a pic of all the students. Needed an alternative.

[@Exilis]

No country should rely on growth and pensions are too high for individuals with high income.

[@Teddypally]

I don't think the falling birth rate has anything to do with what you mentioned. Correlation is not causation. What you have to identify is which attitude stays the same and the outcome varies because of the changes in perceptions stemming from changes in the environment. For example, if one hypothesizes that people have children when they perceive stability, then economic success isn't stable. It's a period where smaller businesses are wiped out by bigger businesses and wealth redistributes and you might have the wealthier being of a smaller percentage having more children and the less wealthy, being of a larger percentage having fewer children, and an overall reduction of births. Add in the policies to encourage the well to do to have more children and it is perceived as even greater instability by those (now) less wealthy which exacerbates the negative perception. Then introduce "foreign talent" which again exacerbates the negative perception. The question is not one of the birth rate falling despite the Government's intervention but if it is exacerbated by the Government's intervention. If there's an unwillingness to examine that, then there's really going to be no solution. In this video, you attempt to tie it to economic success but that means birth rates should rise following recessions and what is the data on that?

[@Callsign-Blade_RunnerSG]

Singapore’s birth policies don’t seemed willing enough in practice to reverse the low birth rates. They need to offer more support seriously. The Scandinavian countries are doing a great job reversing the low birth rates and their policies SHOULD be emulated!

[@leanderbarreto6523]

What if all tiger economies had a monetary union like the EU

[@Ccb88888]

The most advanced economies in Asia have lower fertility levels than Western European countries. The reasons are complex. But in any event, I would challenge the orthodoxy that a declining population is necessarily a bad thing. Fewer people means less waste, less environmental degradation. Fewer people does not necessarily lead to economic stagnation. Germany's population fell by 1.3 mill in 2000-2015, but it's GDP continued growing, and it did not suffer a crisis in public finances, despite the beginnings of the huge wave of baby boomer retirement..... Re. immigration- if you want to run a global financial centre- you will need to accept a high level of immigration of talented people. Even in the City of London (which has centuries of experience as a global financial centre), a significant proportion of mid- and senior management in the financial services sector (in the City of London) aren't British (at least 20-30%).

[@thecat6159]

The countries that are ageing with low immigration levels such as Italy, Japan, Russia, and Greece suggest otherwise. I regardless would not really use Germany as an example of this. As it’s economy growing has more to do with other factors that are not common with countries with falling labour levels. These factors include the following. Massively increased exports to Asian developing nations, especially China. The Economic growth of Eastern German provinces after German unification. Increased access and integration to Western and Eastern European markets and there skilled labour. A good Immigration system that balanced skilled and young workers. While other European countries could of benefited from these circumstances. The country of Germany was in the perfect spot political and economically to reap the economic benefits of these factors. This made the economic consequences of declining labour force invisible and hidden.

[@retiredinbali9565]

Well stated.

[@RepeatedTime]

The difficulty with singapore is that it doesn't allow dual citizenship

[@cameraguy6297]

I like these demographic/sociological videos

[@abramswee]

which one is easier for Singapore to set a goal to land a citizen on the moon? Build a new space program or give an astronaut who has landed on the moon a sg citizenship?

[@Bunthecorgi]

Dont worry Singapore! Im coming soon! Have been dreaming of living there since 8 yrs old

[@YanestraAgain]

"It just doesn't work." Hmmm, I would disagree because I can read statistics, but instead I would agree that if two people in the household have to work at the same time to maintain the standard of living, no woman would voluntarily risk her job to bring a costly child into the world.

[@edgregory1]

Singaporean women require you to schedule appointment for everything.

[@axianskin]

Haha, including madturbation !

[@qwerty6789x]

even on? you know? 😅

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

Singapura have malay population

[@miken4591]

You fail to mention that there are millions of temporary visa low skilled male factory workers and female maids. These add to population and crowding, without adding much to GDP.

[@keytiax1128]

so many foreign talents in Singapore today, only a quarter of truly singaporeans ppl. how much more you estimate

[@sgtigerj]

You’re saying there’s only a quarter of Singaporeans in Singapore??????????? Don’t trip sir. Enough of Alex Tab for you

[@angeluscorpius]

On the other hand, Singapore's crude death rate is less than 4 per 1000. This is statistically unsustainable. It would mean that the average lifespan of a Singaporean is over 100 years... and may be (statistically) as long as 200 years. This is highly improbable. Which means that over time, the death rate of Singapore WILL GO UP. As Japan's has, because of their ageing population. The problem of population shrinkage may be solved (eventually) with technology. In Japan, older workers have exo-skeleton suits to help them with physical work. If you can't have younger Singaporeans, just keep the older workers "young" (or pseudo-young) with technology. The problem with childbearing is that a woman's best childbearing age is also her most economically productive age. Is there some way to extend childbearing years? Or "outsource" childbearing to a device or to someone else (surrogacy is already possible, but not (yet) a social norm).

[@pikminlord343]

An interesting video

[@Azarif07]

I Love ❤️❤️Singapore 🇸🇬🇸🇬🇸🇬 I have been 3 times.

[@crxiong353]

‘Skilled talent’... pffftt. You have no idea how mediocre many these actually are. Don’t even get me started on how locals feel when you put in place such a liberal migrant policy while males are made to serve compulsory national service - although necessary - and paid a meagre allowance.

[@Asianometry]

I frequent the Singapore subreddit. It does seem that most locals don’t think very highly of these people.

[@Ccb88888]

Yes but you make foreigners (permanent residents) who turn 18 serve in your military. Singapore is the only country in the world to do so.

[@MsEverAfterings]

@@Asianometry I probably am of the unpopular opinion, but I don’t think many Singaporeans are talented, and are at most mediocre (I think of myself as mediocre tbh). Lol, we have high number of Singaporeans employed in the civil service for the “iron rice bowl” jobs (the mentality of the older generations); how will our economy stay competitive like that? How many people want to help themselves to get better skills?

[@lzh4950]

@@Ccb88888 Heard might've caused some conflict with nearby Indonesia as it's said it'd cancel citizenships of its citizens who serve in foreign militaries (perhaps including Indonesians who hold Singapore PR?)

[@venkateshinguva4062]

I have never seen a local population anywhere in the world take kindly to low and high skilled immigrants from other countries. @@Asianometry

[@2DarkHorizon]

The first hurdle is just getting more people married not having babies. Back in the day when a guy met a girl they only need to go on a few dates to work out they were right for each other. and they get married. It seems nowaday people are more unsure of themselves and not in tune with their instincts who is right for them and they are fear making quicker commitment. Also there is a lot of things to do now like travelling and entertainment it makes people delay marriage and having babies even more. Having a date isnt straightforward anymore. Having a date is considered like "uncool" it has been downplayed to like having a coffee or a casual lunch but we don't wanna say it is a date. So it makes the landscape of dating more confusing for some people with less social experience. I heard older person are re marrying in record numbers and meeting up in western countries. It seems the older generation aren't embarassed meeting each other and letting others know they are interested in someone. It seems the younger generation are more prone to feeling embarassed or shy letting others know they are looking for someone and interested in someone. There is no common understanding it seems. That is why I know it isn't about only stress, money, etc that is reducing the population. If it was why are older people still marrying like normal. There is something different about the mindset of the young it isn't the same like the old.

[@edgregory1]

Yes, social skills have declined. Phone zombies.

[@djunior874]

Yet they refuse to offer me a work visa. I want to go there and eventually have kids with my singaporean girlfriend. Alas, it probably won't happen because of Singapore's very strict laws (minimum foreigner salaries).

[@alexzzz163]

Maybe u can try again. As long as u have a business or planning to venture in Singapore, I think it will be easier to get a work visa. Then convert to PR

[@MsEverAfterings]

It’s simply bad timing. Priorities are in hiring Singaporeans to keep unemployment rate down and hence, not many companies are able to procure work visas for any expats.

[@djunior874]

@@MsEverAfterings It's okay, we broke up, I'm moving to Taiwan now lol

[@MsEverAfterings]

@@djunior874 lol aww.. All the best to your move!

[@djunior874]

@@MsEverAfterings thanks, now they have border restrictions, but at least I have a contract and work permit 😅

[@caver38]

Singapore has an unsustainable population and will have major problems in the future as water and electricity are created by using gas a fossil fuel . There are less and less foreigners as their higher salaries are restricted , and Singapore is not considered a creative environment .

[@zhenyuanyeo8386]

1988 is year of dragon. Chinese prefer children to be born then, due to superstition.

[@chico20m]

What about promote more children between low clases and invest in the education of those children????

[@blupeppers6437]

Right

[@Arco326]

Manny couples are not having children ... DINK double income no kids...some prefer just to have 1 kid... again this is another source of population decline ... Also the high cost of living and real estate.... this results in Parents having to have work careers...

[@ehvlullo]

When I was doing my semester studying abroad in Singapore every time I went on KZbin I got these pretty kiddy ads urging people to have babies. Being from a country that also sees a net worker immigration I understand the ambivalence of the native population with regards to immigration. I think because of the skill level on which the competition is happening, maybe it's fair to say that the native population's response is a little different. Rather than a (deemed unacceptable) xenofobic response, the result is maybe a bit more simmering. Getting the best and brightest from abroad will generally be fine; getting the quite good and pretty bright (or even just ok) could be problematic in the short term.

[@WTHH2]

We're screwed?!?

[@LurpakSpreadableButter]

Well no one's been screwing, so we're screwed

[@kinnish5267]

@@LurpakSpreadableButter haaa very funny

[@caver38]

Singapore does not need to increase its population , as it is already overpopulated at nearly 6 million for its resources . The government initially stated that the max population was 3-3.5 million , then changed it and allowed excessive number of foreigners . This so-called problem is a worldwide problem , and the Singapore government and the business and financial sector will have to change their ideas and models , less consumption , less production .

[@sgtigerj]

I am a singaporean and I wish more Singaporean’s watched this video and understood why we need foreign talent and new citizens. The rise of xenophobia and racism especially in recent years is extremely worrying especially to our immigrant India brothers and sisters.

[@laocheebye]

You just got PR or citizenship?

[@sgtigerj]

@@laocheebye Born here, so were my parents and my 4 grandparents

[@alvinlin8140]

Your mindset is retarded. Would France still be France if 60% of the people are non French? Of course not same for Singapore

[@480darkshadow]

@@alvinlin8140 Over 80% of American are not of British origin. Doesn’t make them less American.

[@lcg3092]

@@alvinlin8140 Yes, France would still be France, and those people would also be french. France now is not the same from France from 50 years ago, same for all countries, but yeah, it's still France.

[@shamjb2278]

This actually an advantage for Singapore!!......... Rich people in Communist China love to live in Singapore!!,........ The ruling party can maintain their power and at the same time can have capital for Singapore growth.

[@bbpetrov]

Could you pass that "have 3 if you can afford it" policy to India please?

[@marco21274]

Maybe they should look at France.

[@ketunky3056]

Outsource to India. We need jobs.

[@wilsonnss6329]

Singapore best control at 4 millions

[@HazimAlkhulud]

Hello Im Malaysian, instead of giving 9,000 SGD, every month to a baby, just hired me at 2,700 SGD per month, I am healthy, eager, educated and diligent. Any work I can do also, interest in engineering, biomedical and AI

[@xeedsenterprise505]

Stay in Malaysia..wherever u go..finally u will end up 6 feet underground...

[@pierQRzt180]

pay a minimum wage salary for the first 3 years of life of every kid, see how fertility explodes (but the country as to pay for it)

[@rollmeister]

"A developing country starts to develop"....how about "a country starts to develop" instead. I see this doubling up in language so often these days.

[@zapfanzapfan]

Families want to have a house with a lawn... good luck getting that in Singapore...

[@axianskin]

You need bold, radical solution. SG government can offer a Hermes Berkin bag or Chanel bag or Dior bag to mothers for every child . I promise you can see results 😎 I read a survey on young women and majority would gladly forgo sex for a designer bag. That says alot of their psyche

[@RAM-km8bx]

Singaporeans wake up can ? We need more new citizens No choice Cannot be anti foreigner anymore

[@j2h226]

LOL the government is taking in many more immigrants than is necessary for population replacement.

[@laychyetan7466]

If you businesses owner of cos good lah. If worker still neeed to fulfill national conscription obligation how they feel? Being squeezed both sides by the state they served time for. Jobs pay get lowered and NS obligation made us uncompetitive. My fault of cos. It is on me to become a successful boss and hire foreign worker. The stuck up locals can relak 1 corner.

[@ivanteo1973]

That's the country problem, not ours.

[@wilsonnss6329]

Wrong to stop at 2 must be stop at 3 so many life wasted due to stop at 2 R.I.P

[@siu-longleejune748]

To curb the thousands poor and starving in Africa it was discovered that by educating the girls it lowers populations to offset the starving and overall poor. When females have options they opt out of childbearing or put it off till their later years which decreases the chances of having children. Because females have a short fertility window from 16 to 29. And most fertility doctors agree that the peak fertile years are from 20 to 24.

[@2DarkHorizon]

Trust me that isn't the only reason. Alot of people are scared to admit they spend so much time studying and on their career they made have lost some social skills how to find someone. Singapore needs to pass the first hurdle and that is getting more people married. There was a study done that showed when people were married they had no less or no more babies in particular 2 or 1.

[@Toefoo100]

@@2DarkHorizon that's probably the biggest problem right there. A good career isn't the only thing in life. Maybe the best in between would be to offer education or work benefits to women only after they start having kids as an incentive. It seems so backward now, with all the medical advances we have made the working age has been massive extended yet the fertility window remains the same. So encouraging a family first approach would be the best option, and instead of college straight out of high school.

[@ja_aq.ov_]

By convincing women to spend their youth studying and working so that some corporations profit and the GDP goes up, they've managed to handicap families.

[@piernikowyloodek]

I need to correct the misinformation. Fertility window goes from circa 14 to 42 years old. There's millions of children born to 30+ y.o. women, they're well inside the fertility window. Average age for onset of menopause is 54y.o. Knowing the basics of biology is fundamental for creating sensible policies.

[@siu-longleejune748]

@@piernikowyloodek You must not understand the term "peak". By age 30 women only have 10% of their eggs left. If you are very rich and can afford the high cost of a fertility clinic or a surrogate, then yeah you can probably have a baby. The chances are smaller after age 35 though. After age 30 on up the chances are so much higher of having babies with a developmental disability such as autism or down syndrome. Women should look at their bodies as a athlete does. You have to take advantage of youth youth while your body can still handle the trauma your body will experience. Halle Berry had a baby had a baby in her 40s but she used a surrogate after her being told her womb could no longer hold a child. She stated that it cost her over a million dollars for all these treatments and consultations, not including the surrogate. Even under perfect conditions in a healthy, young female her chances of pregnancy is 30%. Its not 100% or even 50 % after having sex with a healthy male but a mere 30.

[@wilsonnss6329]

More onesided vote more stress more low the birth rate down

[@dianheffernan2435]

Because it probably don't want to

[@finding_aether]

Its really risky to marry in Singapore. If a woman sleeps with another man, you still have to pay for that bastard. Finding a good woman is really important!! Otherwise don't marry.

[@tankman20064]

So many import. Why worry ?

[@bByxinnOceNz]

we don't have the money or time to raise a child.

[@tampenismall2195]

More breathing space

[@brad9529]

30k for each for ANY child after your third, watch em pop out like popcorn

[@zhenyuanyeo8386]

watch the child abandonment rate go BRRRR

[@brad9529]

@@zhenyuanyeo8386 this is true, but tomorrow problem :-)

[@alvinlin8140]

Paying people to have kids doesn’t work. Example-western Europe

[@Voidapparate]

Just put sex hormones in their water and watch everything go ohyeah

[@mwanafalsafa3613]

Am very fertile and looking for a Singaporean wife 😎

[@shastasilverchairsg]

So am I... I'm Singaporean.

[@mwanafalsafa3613]

@@shastasilverchairsg you are a man?

[@visualnanas9199]

Trying to ask educated women to turn into breeding pig.... Ini atuk Lee mmg giler

[@utubegeronimo7628]

The Singapore Chinese leadership must be pragmatic.If land is scare,then why not seek being part of China as a SAR?

[@haoyuguo3929]

singapore is a small country, doesn't need to worry about this issue at all.

[@anntakamaki1960]

Thumbs up 👍🏻 If you’re a kattar hindu 🚩

[@siu-longleejune748]

The only answer is to mandate females not work or pursue college till after age 30.

[@Melly16yr10]

Nope you will get a huge angry crowd then.

[@Highwind79]

Being a native Singapore citizen, I really think the govt can do better if they are at all serious about raising the population. While the govt still can, they should have started collecting eggs and sperms of desirable genes of Singaporeans and have babies grown in artificial wombs. They can be cared and educated correctly. In that way, the population can be grown in the most efficient way. Yes, we may face backlash from religious groups and its still takes many years before new grown babies can be of use to the country. At the moment at least, there's still enough popular support and financially able for the govt to push it through. I hope the govt give it more serious thought. The country's fate is in the balance.

[@alvinlin8140]

That’s is a fucking disaster. Tens of thousands of people are raised without parents. Don’t be surprised when if your country collapses. A huge reason for the fertile rates tanking is the moral and spiritual degradation of a society and your literally asking to degraded it further

[@Highwind79]

If the state does nothing, it WILL collapse. Considering the state is the parents, and how well parents nowsaday takes care of their children, the state is likely to do a better job than many. I'm not saying ban people from having and raising their own children. This is less resource intensive for the state. On the plus side, it will be a boom for employment, provided there are people who wants to do this job. Migration will temporary solve the issue , but its not without its downside. You can see the side effects already. The native population ain't too thrilled to see their jobs taken away by new citizens. When other countries start to tackle their own fertility woes by; 1. preventing their best people from moving, 2. compete with other countries for desirable migrants, it will make it harder for the state to find suitable replacements, and the quality pool will continue to drop. If you have a better solution, I ( and I think the state will too) love to hear you out. PS: I'm alright with cloning other humans if the downsides are well understood and suitably managed ( which at the moment I dont think it has), but most people wont be able to stomach that thought so I wont suggest that.

[@dj_koen1265]

Ur pretty crazy if you want to artificially breed babies Humans are already treated like disposition machines more than enough Your idea would be a disaster

[@dj_koen1265]

No offense but I mean you are either a sociopath or you didn’t think this through If you think it through You should immediately understand how morally reprehensible it is But also psychologically and sociologically it is a huge disaster to have children without families There is a reason orphanages are increasingly being phased out because they have seriously bad effects on the children Then think about the implications it would have on the rights and values of human life Its dangerous water on so many levels

[@Highwind79]

@@dj_koen1265 No issue. Just call me what you like. I made a living by doing things differently so I'm called such names quite often. At the end of the day, I get things done. Could you elaborate on what you meant by "morally reprehensible"? I failed to understand why deserve to be condemn. Orphanages may have bad effects on children, but I believe that the education system that they are put through are not centralized coordinated in order to bring up the best for the children and the state. Considering how poorly many children are brought up nowadays, I think our state ( Singapore) has a good chance to be better than these parents. I accept that I will be condemn for such ideas, although I failed to see the reason other than " becos their religion said so". From my point of view, rights and value belief system is more of a byproduct from education. With careful education and upbringing, I dont see how children brought up by the state is any less worthly than a child that is brought up by the traditional family system. What Singapore ( and many other countries I believe) is facing is the lack of people reproducing, and there's a huge range of possibilities why people are not reproducing. Singapore have tried for many years to reverse the situation but so far nothing is working. Rather than hoping that its population will help the govt, its probably much more reliable to do it at the state level. Some may say these children will be brainwashed... but its no difference from the current population being brainwash through the current media channels. The current way that the govt is hoping to slow down the problem is to attract immigration, but its already reaching its limits, and as the problem gets more accute in other countries, Singapore will have even more challenges to attract the right sort of people to move here as other counties compete for the same resource. If you or anyone is able to suggest better solutions, I'm sure the govt will be very interested.

[@nicholasdaniels1306]

Women need to have more kids. 3 kids per women, nuclear families. Women stay home until the child is 10.

[@yoleeisbored]

Lol no