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Statistics show birth rates steady among migrants
By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 19 September 2006 2235
hrs
SINGAPORE : Singapore has thrown its doors open to foreign talents
to help maintain its competitiveness and to boost its population
growth.
And while foreign talents do contribute to the Singapore economy,
it is less clear if they are raising the birth rate here.
Channel NewsAsia features the second of five special reports from
'Inside Singapore'.
He Yi Min, 43, had her first child 14 years ago in Shanghai. She
moved to Singapore from China in 1995.
In 2000, she took up Singapore citizenship and had her second child
in Singapore.
Her daughter is now four years old.
Madam He said: "We could choose to have our second child in the US
or in Hong Kong because my husband and I had jobs in those
countries, but we chose Singapore because of the bilingual
environment. A bilingual education will help our children adjust to
globalisation and give them better prospects in life."
She said with Singapore's generous Baby Bonus Scheme and excellent
education system, she wants to have more children if she still
can.
Under the Baby Bonus Scheme, the government gives cash incentives
of S$6,000 for a couple's second child, and S$12,000 for their
third or fourth child.
But cases like Madam He are far and few in Singapore, where most of
the permanent residents or new citizens are professionals here to
pursue their careers.
Official statistics show that migrant couples from China seem to be
sticking to a one-child policy even in Singapore.
They had a total of 597 babies in the year 2000, and 556 babies
last year.
But when the father is a Singaporean, and the mother a Chinese
national - slightly more babies were born - 1,187 babies last year
compared to 1,122 in 2000.
As for couples from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the
increases in births for this group have corresponded to their
increasing immigration numbers.
They had 621 babies in 2000, and in 2005, this had gone up to 985
babies.
Like most developed countries, Singapore is experiencing a
declining fertility rate which hit a low of 1.24 last year.
Altogether, some 37,500 babies were born and this is well below the
60,000 needed to replace the current population.
In August 2006, it was announced that a new Citizenship and
Population Unit has been formed in the Prime Minister's Office. Its
job is to promote immigration into Singapore.
The hope is that foreign talents
won't just come to Singapore to work, but will also sink their
roots here and have children who will one day become Singapore
citizens. - CNA/de
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Yah right... WAIT long long.....
