Parent Bonus
In Singapore, we're getting paid more to have babies - it's the government's way of trying to increase the number of births to drive up the population - a big change from the 70s and 80s when they were prompting people (very loudly) to stop at 2.
And in true human fashion, when you give some, people want more. When you give more, they want everything. As they say in Chinese, when you give the earth, they'll want the sky, heaven, the stars and your used underwear. Did the Chinese say that? Well, they should have.
So imagine, you have this stand-off with potential parents on one side saying "Do you want to give me more? If not, I won't have this baby! I swear! Give me more now or no baby for you!". The government on the other side is saying "Please! Please! I'll give you an extra thousand bucks, I'll give you more leave, what else do you want!! Here! Take my used underwear!". Who's going to blink first?
Where is the love? All of a sudden, making babies is a job that is supposed to pay. Instead of being a bonus in itself to have a child, we now have a child looking for that bonus. Are we starting families for the wrong reasons now? I think in the longer-term, this will affect the dynamics within families - since some parents might not have had children for the right natural reasons. It's not that they really love children, they just wanted the buck for the bang (nasty huh!)
I hope we're going down the right path here - because that money and leave and benefits will run out after several years and the only thing that will keep you going is the pure love of parenting - screaming, shouting and nagging included.
And in true human fashion, when you give some, people want more. When you give more, they want everything. As they say in Chinese, when you give the earth, they'll want the sky, heaven, the stars and your used underwear. Did the Chinese say that? Well, they should have.
So imagine, you have this stand-off with potential parents on one side saying "Do you want to give me more? If not, I won't have this baby! I swear! Give me more now or no baby for you!". The government on the other side is saying "Please! Please! I'll give you an extra thousand bucks, I'll give you more leave, what else do you want!! Here! Take my used underwear!". Who's going to blink first?
Where is the love? All of a sudden, making babies is a job that is supposed to pay. Instead of being a bonus in itself to have a child, we now have a child looking for that bonus. Are we starting families for the wrong reasons now? I think in the longer-term, this will affect the dynamics within families - since some parents might not have had children for the right natural reasons. It's not that they really love children, they just wanted the buck for the bang (nasty huh!)
I hope we're going down the right path here - because that money and leave and benefits will run out after several years and the only thing that will keep you going is the pure love of parenting - screaming, shouting and nagging included.