below is a recent article about the baby bonus and the declining birth rate. is the baby bonus really inadequate? do we really need to hand out up to $500,000 per baby? what if parents decided they needed money and therefore decided to have a child so that they will get that sum of money?
do we have that sum of money?
does the government, then, becomes a parent to the child itself for offering monetary support and educational infrastructure?
these are some issues for you to think about as you plough through your home based learning. :)
what can you infer from the cartoon accompanying the newspaper article?
Mar 3, 2011
3 MPs offer suggestions to boost birth rate
By Rachel Chang
WHEN dangled a baby bonus in cash of $500,000 per child, with no strings attached, some childless women would change their minds.
This finding emerged from a straw poll conducted by MP Zaqy Mohamad (Hong Kah GRC), who argued in Parliament on Wednesday that such 'in-your-face, upfront and simple' cash incentives would go further in convincing women to have more children.
'There is a tipping point, a price,' he said. 'Just that the Government hasn't found it, or is finding the price too tough to swallow.'
Mr Mohamad was one of three MPs to offer suggestions on how to boost the abysmal birth rate during the debate on the budget for the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in Parliament on Wednesday.
The other two were Nominated MPs Viswa Sadasivan and Paulin Tay Straughan. All three argued that the current array of subsidies and tax relief under the Government's $1.6 billion 'Marriage and Parenthood Package' are insufficient in convincing Singaporeans to have more children.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, who heads the National Talent and Population Division under the PMO, said that more time was needed to assess the impact of the package, last enhanced in 2008.
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