Skip to main content
Home The New Paper
  • Home
  • News
    • Singapore
    • World
    • Business
    • Views
    • Backstage
    • Others
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Singapore Football
    • Team Singapore
    • School Sports
    • Athletics
    • Basketball
    • Cricket
    • Swimming
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Racing
    • Others
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Star Style
    • School of Frock
  • Lifestyle
    • Makan
    • Hed Chef
    • Weets Eats
    • Health
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Fashion
    • Shopping
    • Biker Boy
    • Celeb Chow
    • Others
  • Racing
  • Your Tip-Offs
  • Read E-Paper
  • Contests
  • Coupon
  • Team

Popular

  • COURT & CRIME
  • Food & Drink
Views

Why I am afraid to have children

This article is more than 12 months old
government lifts IVF treatment age limit, extends co-funding
TNP FILE PHOTO

In today's world, government subsidies may not be enough to push young Singaporeans to have kids

Cheow Sue-Ann
Comment
Aug 30, 2019 06:00 am
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • E-mail this article
  • 0 Engagements

After 18 years and eight sets of enhancements to the Marriage and Parenthood Package since it was first rolled out in 2001, the overall fertility rate in Singapore remains far below replacement levels.

On Wednesday, the Government announced the latest slew of changes to encourage more couples to marry and have children, including more affordable and accessible childcare.

While chatting among ourselves, a colleague asked if the changes would encourage me to have children. To be honest, they do not.

I admit that at 25, I have recently found myself oddly moved by babies. I even told a friend that I fear the dreaded "maternal instinct" was finally getting to me.

But while I respect women who choose to start a family while balancing a career, the idea of having children, especially in hyper-competitive and uber-expensive Singapore, is too daunting to even consider, this early in my life and career.

I am not alone in my fears.

Trial to pedestrianise parts of road next to Kampung Admiralty
Singapore

Trial to pedestrianise parts of road next to Kampung Admiralty

Jan 22, 2021

Related Stories

Digital Chingay celebrates hawker culture with TikTok dance challenge

Pilots to reopen nightclubs, karaoke outlets put on hold

Hundreds of lanterns to light up Chinatown ahead of Chinese New Year

Many recent articles, including one published in The Guardian in May, have concluded that traditional markers of success, such as child rearing, no longer apply.

The article cited author Paul Dolan, a professor of behavioural science at the London School of Economics, going so far as to say that unmarried and childless women are the happiest subgroup in the population. I can see why.

To begin with, we live in an era where finding and keeping a fulfilling job is increasingly difficult, with so many accomplished young people vying for a small pool of coveted jobs.

If I had to juggle work and child-raising, why should a company pick me over someone else who can give 100 per cent?

Raising a child is so expensive now too, it is no longer about just providing for necessities. Will I be able to afford to give my child what I deem to be the best?

Shifting priorities also means that now there are more things to give up should I choose to have a child - a career, financial freedom, time to spend with friends and family.

Our generation is so lucky, our forefathers have paved the way for so many opportunities for us.

Whether it is the world becoming so much more accessible, or social norms shifting to allow women to thrive in any career, I am in a place in life where I have the opportunity to contribute to the world through work I do.

government lifts IVF treatment age limit, extends co-funding
Singapore

Government lifts IVF age limit, extends co-funding

Aug 29, 2019

And while many people say that you can do all that and still raise a family, child raising seems fundamentally incompatible with the type of life I really want - to be able to chase opportunities, wherever in the world they may be, and work 15-hour days without fretting over a young life I am responsible for.

Perhaps in a few years I might change my mind as my priorities shift, but even then, these factors are likely to persist.

When asked why Singaporeans should think that this set of changes will be any more effective at encouraging an improved fertility rate, Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo admitted that the policies and governmental support can do onlyso much.

More families to benefit from lower pre-school costs soon
Singapore

More families to benefit from lower pre-school costs soon

Aug 29, 2019

She said: "These policies are intended to lighten the burden... but social norms can work against (the families)."

And she is right, society and work now give us so many reasons to say no, it is becoming harder to see why it should be otherwise.

Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now

COMMUNITY ISSUES

Cheow Sue-Ann

sueannc@sph.com.sg
Read articles by Cheow Sue-Ann
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • E-mail this article
  • Newslink -  Purchase this article for republication

Top Stories this Month

Singapore

Mum killed in crash on way home to celebrate with son

Jan 19, 2021
After one year of Covid in Singapore: Case 38
Singapore

A year on, recovered virus patient still can't taste or smell

Jan 22, 2021
ICA officers find contraband cigarettes in God of Fortune figurines
Singapore

Thousands of duty unpaid cigarettes found in CNY figurines on lorry: ICA

Jan 18, 2021
Home
  • Contests
  • Coupon
  • Team
  • Home
  • News
    • Singapore
    • World
    • Business
    • Views
    • Backstage
    • Others
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Singapore Football
    • Team Singapore
    • School Sports
    • Athletics
    • Basketball
    • Cricket
    • Swimming
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Racing
    • Others
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Star Style
    • School of Frock
  • Lifestyle
    • Makan
    • Hed Chef
    • Weets Eats
    • Health
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Fashion
    • Shopping
    • Biker Boy
    • Celeb Chow
    • Others
  • Racing
  • Your Tip-Offs
  • Read E-Paper
  • Contact TNP
  • About SPH
  • Privacy Statement
  • Data Protection Policy
  • Member Terms & Conditions
  • Website Terms & Conditions
SPH Digital News Copyright © 2021 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co. Regn No. 198402868E