Is that only man's fault?

From Gender equality the key to Big Baby problem?
By Angela Lim – May 20th, 2010
Do Singaporean males have to step up if we want more babies?

In a letter to the Straits Times forum on Thursday, women’s rights group AWARE wrote that Singapore has not seen a reversal in the decline of fertility rates because Singaporean fathers are not rising to the task of child rearing. It also believes that state support for equal parenting roles is not adequate.

New executive director of AWARE, Ms Corinna Lim, expressed that while many people think that Singaporean women have achieved greater gender equality, compared with other states like Australia and Britain where the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is now increasing, Singapore is lagging far behind.

Her views echo that of noted Swedish Professor Hans Rosling, who was recently interviewed by the same paper. In his interview, he suggested fairer employment and government policies would lead to greater gender equity, which in turn, would boost Singapore’s birth rate.

Rosling compared Singapore’s situation with that of pro-family, pro-baby Sweden, a close cousin to Singapore in terms of income and infant mortality rate. He pointed out the two countries are moving in opposite directions when it comes to fertility rates — Sweden climbing to a 16-year high of 1.94, while Singapore plummeting to a mere 1.23.

In her letter, Lim writes this is because “in the last 30 years, women have entered the workplace in droves. More girls graduate from our universities than boys. However, these changes are asymmetrical. Men have not moved into the domestic sphere at the same rate.”

She adds that this makes raising a child “less attractive” for career women if she has to “bear the bulk of the childcare burden”.

In contrast, she writes, “Her husband does not lose sleep about balancing work and family life.”

Sharing Professor Rosling’s calls for fairer work-place policies, Lim goes on to ask why the government only mandates four months’ paid maternity leave, but not a day of paternity leave. She also called for better support structures for flexi-work arrangements and family-friendly work environments.

A recent question we asked on Yahoo! Answers on “Why are Singaporeans not having enough babies?” drew over 1,000 responses.

Now’s your turn. Do you agree with Ms Lim?

Is greater gender equality the solution to Singapore’s Big Baby problem?

I don't think gender equality is the solution to Singapore's fertility issue, quite opposite, the society, and modern educated women, has gradually abandoned the role of mothering. Though it is purely personal choices to be a mother or to be a career woman, which, to great extend, are conflicting and equally demanding, the policy on gender equality certainly had done negative impacts on Singapore's TFR. It takes mothers to nurture a generation. Ladies make your own choice wisely with your heart and soul, stopping blaming other. Even if the "FULL TIME MOTHERS effort is just as tiny as a drop of water, let's strive to aim for the ocean. For our rewards are not decided by men.