Singapore initially implemented population policies in the 1950s-1960s to curb its rapidly growing population due to high birth rates. However, by the 1980s, Singapore's population growth had slowed too much, with a fertility rate of 1.82 children per woman. This prompted the government to change its policies to encourage births. New initiatives included incentives for educated mothers and promoting having three or more children if affordable. When these met with limited success, further pro-family measures and attracting foreign talent were pursued to boost economic growth and meet manpower needs given an aging population.

1. A Case Study
of
Singapore’s
population policy

2. Targets for Today
O Find out how Singapore’s population
policy has changed over time
O Explain the reasons for these changes
O Give examples of population policies
and their effects

3. Mr Cheong…
why are we learning this??
O Link to ‘Principles of Governance’
O Relevance to Singapore today

4. Background
O In the 1950s and 1960s, many families
had six to seven children
O Singapore’s population was growing too
fast!
O Remember we were a new country!
O Some problems that the government was
worried about were…
Unemployment
Shortage of housing
Insufficient healthcare
Insufficient education

6. So,
why the sudden change?

7. The Population U-Turn
O Singapore’s policies were too successful!
O Instead of having too many children…
…Singaporeans were now having too few!
O The replacement rate is 2.1 children per
woman, but in 1980, Singapore’s was 1.82
THINK: What does ‘2.1 children per woman’
mean?

8. Reasons for the change
O Declining birth rate from the 1980s
O Fertility rate was 1.82 in 1980
O Unattractive to multinational
companies
O Why is this important…?
O Ageing population
O More about this soon!
O Defence
O Nobody left to fight!! 

9. Changes in Policy (1)
O The Graduate Mothers Scheme
O Incentives for educated mothers
O Hugely unpopular  why?
O Three or More if You Can Afford It
O Change from ‘Stop at Two’
O Still cautious due to fears of unemployment

10. Pro-family Measures
O Other pro-family measures (from 2004)
O Equalised medical benefits
O Grandparent caregiver relief
O 5-day work week for Civil Service
O Extended maternity leave
Objective
Create a culture that makes it easier for
families to have children

11. Attracting Foreign Talent
O Interim measure until more babies are
born
O Attract people from all over the world to
call Singapore home
Objective
Meet Singapore’s economic needs &
develop Singapore into a cosmopolitan city

12. Closing questions
Have these methods been
successful?
Why or why not?
What would you do differently?