In a one-on-one interview with CNA, one of Singapore’s highest-ranking government officials tasked to oversee the issue said, in no uncertain terms: “We will never go back to replacement rate.”

CHILDREN: “NOT REALLY VERY GOOD INVESTMENTS”?
The increasing cost of raising children - including accoutrements such as a S$1.4 billion tuition industry - comes in tandem with what Asst Prof Tan referred to as a changing “generational contract”.

Today, children are not really expected to work and contribute to household expenses, so “it’s no longer a system where (they) necessarily repay their parents because they’re grateful for their upbringing”, she said. Instead of depending on their children to provide for them, people now look to the healthcare system and their own savings.

“That means that if I'm a very rational person and I only value children from a comfort perspective, actually children nowadays are not really very good investments,” the sociologist added. “In fact, they’re a net drain.”