Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew has denied his policies were to blame for the city’s low birth rate and said financial handouts for young couples would not solve the problem.
In excerpts from a new book to be launched later on Tuesday, Lee insisted that the reluctance of couples to have more children was the result of changed lifestyles and mindsets, which no amount of financial perks could alter.
Despite a slew of so-called “baby bonuses” to encourage couples to have children, Singapore’s total fertility rate last year stood at 1.20 children per woman, far below the 2.1 needed to maintain the native-born population.
The former prime minister, who retired from politics in 2011 and turns 90 next month, rejected as “absurd” suggestions that his “Stop At Two” children campaign in the 1970s played a part in the decline of current fertility rates.
Fearing that a population explosion would hit growth and overwhelm infrastructure, Lee’s government instituted the tough measures to persuade young couples to have only two children.
The policy saw the government legalise abortion, encourage voluntary sterilisation and introduce disincentives for larger families wanting to live in public housing.
