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SINGAPORE: Singapore’s total fertility rate (TFR) fell to a record low of 1.1 last year, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Minister Indranee Rajah said on Friday (February 26).
He said the COVID-19 pandemic caused some Singaporeans to postpone their marriage, resulting in about 10 percent fewer marriages last year than in 2019. Others have delayed their parenting plans, he added.
Ms Indranee, who oversees the PMO’s National Population and Talent Division, spoke in Parliament during the Sourcing Committee debate.
East Asian societies like South Korea and Taiwan, as well as Scandinavian countries known for good fertility outcomes like Finland and Norway, also experienced a drop in TFR, he noted.
“Increasing fertility is an arduous task for advanced societies, but we must continue to support those who want to marry and have children,” said Ms Indranee, who is also Second Minister of Finance and National Development.
During the debate, he announced that the Government will increase its dollar-for-dollar counterpart in the Child Development Account for a second child from S $ 3,000 to S $ 6,000.
TFR refers to the average number of live births that each woman would have during her reproductive years. The TFR of residents has been gradually decreasing over the past decades and was 1.14 in 2019.
READ: The government will double the equivalent amount in CDA to S $ 6,000 for the second child
Indranee also told MPs that Singapore will continue to “carefully calibrate” the pace of immigration.
In 2020, Singapore gained around 21,100 new citizens and 27,500 new permanent residents. These figures are lower than in previous years due to travel restrictions and operational problems stemming from COVID-19, he said.
For example, secure management measures resulted in limited spaces to complete the final steps for citizenship registration and public relations, which must be done in person. A few thousand applicants, who were approved in principle, had not completed all the required processes to obtain their RP or citizenship by the end of 2020.
Depending on how the COVID-19 situation evolves, these applicants could be granted public relations or citizenship in the coming months, and could add to the numbers normally awarded this year, Ms Indranee said.
From June 2019 to June 2020, Singapore’s total population decreased slightly by 0.3 percent due to a decline in foreign employment in the service sector and work permit holders. S Pass and Employment Pass holders have also declined amid the pandemic due to travel restrictions and the economic recession.
“The government continues to maintain a strict stance on our foreign worker labor policy,” he said.
