Good Governance
Population Pyramid
Population Pyramid
Population Pyramid
Singapore’s Population Policy
 From rapid-growth baby-boom figures during the 1950s
and the 1960s to the …
 1966 to 1981 three five-year plans to reduce population
growth to the …
 Current struggle to bring up declining population levels
and replacement rates and finding ways to …
 Handle current ageing population problems
Singapore’s Population Policy
 Late 1950s to the 1960s:
 Post-war baby boom due to peace and stability in Singapore
following WW2 as businesses were re-started and
employment was abundant
 Confidence in the future and the belief that more children
meant better financial security in old age
 With an average of 6 to 7 children or more per family, the
population grew rapidly from 1.02m to 1.64m in a decade
Singapore’s Population Policy
 Late 1950s to the 1960s:
 In 1965, Singapore became independent and was poised to
face many challenges:
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British military pull-out scheduled for 1971
No raw materials
Need to build up industry
Need to build up schools
Need to build up healthcare system
Need to build up infrastructure
Need to house a growing population
What a BIG Headache!!!
Solution?
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1966 to 1981 (Family Planning Phase)
 In 1966, setting up of the SFPPB (Singapore Family
Planning and Population Board) to plan population
policies with the aim to control population growth:

Aimed for 3 Five Year Plans
 1966 – Emphasize the need for smaller families
 1971 – Encouraged married couples to stop at 2
children
 1976 – Maintain the replacement level at 2.1 children
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1966 to 1981 (Family Planning Phase)
 In addition, various measures to assist
the 5 year plans were put in place:
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Encouraging contraception and making it
available for purchase
Legalised abortion
Campaigns
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1966 to 1981 (Family Planning Phase)
 In addition, various measures to assist the 5
year plans were put in place:
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No paid maternity leave to be given to the 3rd and
subsequent children
No priority to be given to large families in the allocating
of government (HDB) flats
No income tax relief to be given for the 4th and
subsequent children
Delivery charges in hospitals to be increased with each
additional child
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1966 to 1981 (Family Planning Phase)
 Was extremely successful:

1980 – Fertility rate was 1.82 per woman

Family planning policy to reduce birth rate had worked
 Was not that successful:

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Fertility rate was below replacement level
Other factors at play for a decrease in births:

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Increasing living costs
Change of mindsets towards career, marriage and large
families
Singapore’s Population Policy
 To what extent were Singapore’s Family Planning policies a
success? Explain your answer. [12m]
 Step 1: Explain that they were successful

1980 – Fertility rate was 1.82 per woman

Family planning policy to reduce birth rate had worked
 Step 2: Explain that they were not that successful

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Fertility rate was below replacement level
Other factors at play for a decrease in births:


Increasing living costs
Change of mindsets towards career, marriage and large families
 Step 3: Weighing
Singapore’s Population Policy
1980s and beyond (Declining Birth
Rate)
 Why was there a need to promote population
growth from the 1980s?
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Declining Birth Rate from the 1980s
Unattractive to MNCs (Multi-National Companies)
Ageing Population
Defence Needs
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 Why was there a need to promote population growth from the 1980s?

Declining Birth Rate from the 1980s
 Fertility rate was at 1.82 (below replacement rate)
 Rising cost of living
 Changing Attitudes:
 Higher educational prospects for women resulted in them marrying
later and focusing on their careers
 Young couples want time together and decide on having children later
 Changing attitudes towards marriage and large families
 Dragon Year versus unpopular years
 Economic uncertainties
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 Why was there a need to promote population
growth from the 1980s?

Unattractive to MNCs
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Not enough talented people to work in MNCs and sustain their
development in Singapore
More expensive to recruit Singaporeans because of short supply
and therefore MNCs may move to cheaper hiring destinations like
India and China where the labour market is bigger
Singaporeans would also become a less attractive consumer
market
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 Why was there a need to promote
population growth from the 1980s?

Ageing Population
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Fewer births mean fewer young people in future
population figures to counter the large amount of older
people from the baby boom period
More resources would be needed to take care of the
ageing population and less resources would be
available for other sectors
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 Why was there a need to promote
population growth from the 1980s?

Defence
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With fewer young people, there would be less men to
serve the nation
Singapore would be weakened in terms of defence
capability
Move towards Army 3G to counter a drop in human
resources
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 How did the government promote
population growth after the 1980s?
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Graduate Mothers Scheme
Three or More if You Can Afford It
Other Pro-Family Measures
Attracting Foreign Talent
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 How did the government promote
population growth after the 1980s?

Graduate Mothers Scheme
 Research undertaken showed that the children of
university graduates tended to perform better in schools
 As a result, PM Lee (LKY) felt that female graduates
should have more children so that the new generation
workforce would be better educated
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 How did the government promote
population growth after the 1980s?

Graduate Mothers Scheme
 In 1984, the GMS was introduced to encourage marriages
among graduates and to encourage them to have more
children
 GMS sparked off a debate and unhappiness because nongraduates were unhappy as they were neglected under
the policy
 The GMS was scrapped in 1985
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 How did the government promote
population growth after the 1980s?

Three or More if You Can Afford It
 Amendment of the 1987 population policy and aimed
to bring back the replacement level of 2.1 children
 Instead of discouraging large families, parents were
encouraged to have three or more children if they
could afford it
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 How did the government promote
population growth after the 1980s?

Three or More if You Can Afford It
 Due to the 1985 recession and the retrenchment of
workers by MNCs, the government also wanted
couples to only have children if they could afford it and
not contribute to social problems if they were to have
another child and not be able to cope financially
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 How did the government promote
population growth after the 1980s?

Three or More if You Can Afford It
 The government also introduced measures like
allowing the use of Medisave to pay for the deliveries
of the first 3 children
 LIMITED SUCCESS
 Fertility rate rose from 1.48 to 1.96 in 1988
 From 1988 fell from 1.96 to 1.24 in 2004
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 How did the government promote
population growth after the 1980s?

Three or More if You Can Afford It
 Publicity campaigns also failed to inspire couples to
have more than one child
 Later marriages
 Lowest birth rate
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 How did the government promote
population growth after the 1980s?

Other Pro-Family Measures
 To help with the high cost of raising children and the
lack of suitable childcare facilities:
 Equalised medical benefits – Mothers could now
make claims for their children
 5-day work week – To allow for a better work-life
balance
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 How did the government promote
population growth after the 1980s?

Other Pro-Family Measures
 To help with the high cost of raising children and the
lack of suitable childcare facilities:
 Grandparent Caregiver Relief – Tax relief for
grandparents who took care of children
 Extended paid maternity leave – (from 8 weeks to 12
weeks)
Singapore’s Population Policy
 1980s and beyond (Declining Birth Rate)
 How did the government promote
population growth after the 1980s?

Attracting Foreign Talent
 Enhance Singapore’s competitiveness
 Relaxed immigration policy from 1989 making it easier
to obtain Singapore citizenship
 Subsidised housing
 Attractive education packages for children
Singapore’s Population Policy
 Ageing Population
 Singapore’s population will age quickly over the
next 30 years because:
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Post-war baby boomers will hit 65 in 2030 …
Declining birth rate from the 1980s … proportion of
young working adults is shrinking and proportion of
elderly is increasing
Increased standard of living and better healthcare …
Singaporeans live longer
I don’t
want to be
BORN…
Go Away!
Singapore’s Population Policy
 Ageing Population
 An ageing population will affect Singapore in the
following ways:
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Greater demand for healthcare and social services
Smaller defence forces
Strain on the working population
Less competitive against other developing countries
Singapore’s Population Policy
 Measures taken to deal with an Ageing
Population:
 Senior Citizens as Assets to Society
 “Many Helping Hands” Approach
Individual
 Family
 Community
 Government

Singapore’s Population Policy
 Measures taken to deal with an Ageing
Population:
 Senior Citizens as Assets to Society
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
Valuable knowledge, skills, work experience and talent
They can still contribute to public and private
organisations and family life
Singapore’s Population Policy
 Measures taken to deal with an Ageing
Population:
 “Many Helping Hands” Approach

Sharing of responsibility to take care of senior
citizens and cutting down on government’s
burden
Singapore’s Population Policy
 Measures taken to deal with an Ageing
Population:
 “Many Helping Hands” Approach

Individual
 Healthy lifestyle (to reduce medical
expenditure)
 Financial planning for retirement
Singapore’s Population Policy
 Measures taken to deal with an Ageing
Population:
 “Many Helping Hands” Approach

Family Support
 Emotional, Social and Financial support
 Strengthen family bonds
 Annual Senior Citizens’ Week – Encourage the
elderly to stay active, promote a positive
attitude towards ageing
Singapore’s Population Policy
 Measures taken to deal with an Ageing
Population:
 “Many Helping Hands” Approach

Family Support
 Grandparents’ Day to bring families together
and show appreciation for the elderly
Singapore’s Population Policy
 Measures taken to deal with an Ageing
Population:
 “Many Helping Hands” Approach

Community Help
 Government gives subsidies to voluntary
welfare organisations to run communitybased services for the elderly: free health
checks, befriender services, recreational
activities
Singapore’s Population Policy
 Measures taken to deal with an Ageing
Population:
 “Many Helping Hands” Approach

Government Support
 Laws and measures to protect the rights and
interests of the elderly
 Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents
 Tax Relief
 CPF
 Public Housing Schemes
Potential Essay Question
 To what extent is the government responsible for
preparing the country for an ageing population?
Explain your answer. [12m]
 L3 – Explain what the government does to prepare the
country for an ageing population
 L4 – Explain what others do to prepare the country for
an ageing population (Individual, Family, Community)
 L5 – Weigh extent to which the government prepares the
country for an ageing population versus what others do