Singapore introduces payouts of up to $55,000 per child amid record-low birth rate

Similar demographic dynamics are unfolding in Kazakhstan, where last week local economists were already citing Singapore's experience in discussions about their own family support policies.

The gist

• Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong presented a financial support package for families amid a decline in the total fertility rate to 0.87 — the state will allocate up to 70,000 Singapore dollars ($55,000) for each child until they reach the age of 17.
• The package includes a one-time payment of 10,000 Singapore dollars at birth, two grants of 5,000 each for medical and educational needs, annual "child credits" of 2,000 from age one to 16, a reduction in childcare fees to $150 per month, and expanded parental leave.
• Despite the generous measures, one in four Singaporeans says they do not want to have children — among the reasons are the high costs of raising a child and the unwillingness to change their established lifestyle.
• Already this year, Singapore is expected to reach the status of a "super-aged" society, where the share of citizens over 65 will exceed 21%.

Money doesn't solve everything

Surveyed Singapore residents are skeptical about whether financial incentives can reverse the demographic trend. A 34-year-old financier named Lee, cited by The Guardian, said that he and his wife deliberately chose not to have children — in his words, having a child would "complicate everything" and deprive them of the ability to travel and dine out. Such sentiments demonstrate the limits of direct financial incentives: if the decision not to have children is tied not only to money but also to a change in lifestyle and life priorities of an entire generation, even generous payouts can only partially compensate for these intangible costs.

Kazakhstan on a similar trajectory

Kazakhstan's demographic dynamics are moving in the same direction, albeit from different starting points. The country's total fertility rate has declined from 3.3 in 2021 to 2.57–2.6 by the end of 2025, while the number of newborns has fallen from a peak of about 446,000 in 2021 to roughly 335,000 in 2025. The average number of children per household in 2026 has for the first time dropped to one child, and the average family size has shrunk from 3.4 people in 2021 to 3.2 this year. Against this backdrop, Kazakhstani economists are already directly referencing Singapore's experience: one of them, commenting on the need to shape long-term demographic policy in advance, cited Singapore as an example — in his assessment, the country simultaneously demonstrates the scale of possible financial incentives and their objective limits. For comparison, the current one-time benefit in Kazakhstan for the birth of a first, second, or third child amounts to 38 MCI — about 164,350 tenge, which is orders of magnitude more modest than Singapore's package of up to $55,000 per child.

Author's conclusion

The Singaporean case is interesting precisely because it shows the limit, not just the potential, of financial incentives for boosting birth rates: a country with one of the world's most generous family support packages still faces the reality that one in four citizens consciously prefers childlessness. For Kazakhstan, where the birth rate is declining at a far more modest but steadily negative pace, the Singaporean experience is not a ready-made recipe but rather a warning: if the decision to postpone or forgo having a child is increasingly linked to changed life priorities rather than just a lack of money, then payouts alone may prove insufficient to reverse the demographic trend.