A focus on one-child couples is an easier baby booster than on large families
Synopsis: On Wednesdays, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore’s social issues of the day with guests. Stopping at one or two children is such a norm in Singapore that a ‘large family’ now means having three or more children. This definition comes after the government launched the larg
By Lynda Hong
Synopsis: On Wednesdays, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore’s social issues of the day with guests.
Stopping at one or two children is such a norm in Singapore that a ‘large family’ now means having three or more children.
This definition comes after the government launched the large families scheme in 2025, in a bid to encourage Singaporeans to expand their households.
In its first year alone, the scheme has already stepped in to help about 5,000 Singaporean children. Each of them received up to $16,000 in additional grants to ease the financial load of multi-child parenting.
But can money alone shift a couple’s mindsets to having more children?
Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies Kalpana Vignehsa joins assistant podcast editor Lynda Hong to discuss the modern realities, anxieties, and choices of raising children in Singapore.
Highlights (click/tap above):
7:27 Why focus on one-child family instead of two-child families under Large Families Scheme
25:48 BTO Co-Living: Building a Child-Raising Community with 12 Families
28:16 $300,000? $500,000? The value of child-raising to society
36:04 Why a family with 3 kids is usually on a single income
50:14 Youth prioritising education, NS and BTO, leaving no room for marriage, let alone babies
Read ST’s Opinion section: https://str.sg/w7sH
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Host: Lynda Hong (lyndahong@sph.com.sg)
Produced and edited by: Teo Tong Kai
Executive producers: Danson Cheong and Lynda Hong
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