AGEING POPULATION
Impact of an Ageing Population
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Social Impact : Demand for more healthcare
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As the ageing population increases , there is an increased stress on medical infrastructure and government resources . The elderly are more prone to age related health problems , thus much more medical resources have to be generated to accommodate these issues.
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Social Impact : Higher demand for public facilities
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Need for senior-citizen friendly facilities in public areas such as support hand bars in public toilets , lifts and MRT stations . This results in additional costs for installing these facilities .
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Social Impact : Higher demand for social services
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More community based services such as day care centres and home nursing care are in demand . Larger pool of trained staffs are needed to take care senior citizens eg . Geriatricians , nurses and volunteers
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Economic Impact : Smaller talent pool
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Having a smaller talent pool would mean a reduction on our economic competitiveness . An ageing population makes us less attractive to investors as they prefer younger workers who are more energetic and productive . In addition , there would also be insufficient talents to sustain development . MNCs would will find it more expensive to recruit Singaporeans due to our smal labour size . Therefore this could affect Singapore's revenue .
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Economic Impact : Strain on working population
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The ageing population will affect our economy greatly and the working population have to support the ageing population by paying more taxes .
Promoting Population growth
Graduate Mother's Scheme
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In 1984 , this scheme was introduced to encourage marriages among graduates.
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Incentives were given to encourage graduates to have more children .
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However , this scheme was seen as unfair to the less educated and this scheme was withdrawn after a year .
Have three or more if you can afford it
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This scheme aimed to increase the population growth by bringing back the replacement level to 2.1 children per woman .
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As there was a economic recession in Singapore at that time , the government strongly encouraged couples to have 3 or more children if they can afford it .
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Financial incentives were provided such as the income tax relief and medisave given for the 1st , 2nd , 3rd and 4th child can be used for hospital bills
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However , there is limited success as the people felt that the assistance was not enough . And it was hard for the government to change the people's perpective that having a large family is linked to large spending .
Pro-Family Measures
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In 2004 , new packages of marriage and parenthood were introduced .
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Measures includes equalized medical benefits where fathers and mothers can make medical claims for their children from their employers .
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Grandparent caregiver relief where an income tax relief of $3000 is granted if a grandparent is helping the couple take care of their child .
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Implemention of the 5-day work week for civil servants to encourage more family time during the weekend
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And women are also given extended maternity leave to ensure mothers can have a good rest after pregnancy .
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Every child produced by a couple will also recieve a cash gift in the form of a baby bonus .
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This policy has yet to produce enough babies to increase Singapore's population . As most of the measures are of a financial nature , it is more afforable to have a baby but in a fast paced society where work is the emphasis,many singaporeans may not have enough time to start a family .
Attracting Foreign Talent
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In 1989 , the government relaxed its immigration policy to attract foreigners with skills that singapore needs .
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The government hopes that after working and living in singapore , some foreigners will feel a sense of attachment to the country and take up citizenship .
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Foreigners are offered attractive education packages for their children and subsizdised housing .
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This policy is quite sucessful in increasing Singapore's population . However , this policy might be just a short term solution as not all foreigners will decide to stay in the country . But , they do solve the problem of manpower shortages and help in the development of Singapore .