Lately, there seems to be a burst of energy aimed at confronting perpetually low fertility rates in this part of the world. In Singapore, the latest Budget unveiled plans to double paternity leave and raise the Baby Bonus among other enhancements. In Japan, Prime Minister Kishida has vowed to take “urgent steps” with the declaration that “it’s now or never”. In China, the government is mulling over radical reforms to boost birth rates, ranging from support for unmarried mothers and free college education for higher-parity children.
It makes sense to try to do more now, since number of women at prime childbearing ages will only dwindle over time. In the case of Singapore, Gillian Koh and Gabriel Lim pointed out in a recent Straits Times op-ed that the proportion of women at these ages is currently relatively high, due to the baby boom shortly after independence. And governments do know they need to act fast, but what they need to do, and how far are they willing to go?
The fertility crisis is deeply rooted in our cultural, education, labour market and family systems. Currently, most governments take a “package” approach, a concerted effort to systematically address the issue of low fertility, with clearly motivated end-goals. Singapore has its landmark Marriage and Parenthood Package, Korea has their Saero-Maji plan, Japan their Angel Plans, and China has signalled the emergence of a comprehensive support plan. Yet despite their thoroughness, to get to the heart of the matter, there may be a need to move from policy consolidation towards broad-based and multi-goal interventions. The Happiness Paradox may apply here: pursuing it directly doesn’t really work. Instead, what may be needed is a general approach towards enhancement of support systems and healthy life practices.
What do you think?
