Baby, maybe it’s time for a baby

Singapore is going to have a baby boom soon. Or is it not? With the new measures announced by the Government on the Marriage and Parenthood package aimed at making Singapore more family-friendly, they sure are gunning for babies. Lots and lots of babies. Let’s see, as a recap, they are giving:

• baby bonus of $6,000 for the first and second child, $8,000 for the third and fourth child
• $6,000 in Medisave grants for newborns
• $53,000 in infant care and child care subsidies for those t earning a combined monthly household income of $7,500 or less
• 1 week of paternity leave
• 4 months of paid maternity leave of which 1 week can be shared by the father

In addition, all babies born with congenital problems will be automatically covered by MediShield insurance from 1 March 2013 which is a great step forward.

I was approached by a reporter to give my views on how effective these incentives will be for couples to start a family or have more children. And here’s my take from a working mom of one.

Baby Bonus = more babies?

While I have to agree that the baby bonus will help defraying the initial costs of having a baby, we all know that making the decision to have a baby goes way beyond cash incentives. The cost of living in Singapore has been steadily rising and everything has become so expensive. So we decided that it makes more sense to have both of us working since my parents still depends on me financially. And because of all the time we spend in the office, we don’t get to spend as much time with Sophie that we wish.

Because we don’t live close to our parents and both of us work close to each other, we decided to place Sophie in an infant care close to our workplace. We have been pretty fortunate that we managed to secure a place for her before I went back to work but the price of infant care easily set us back by close to $12,000 for a just year. Many friends and of course  our parents questioned if this was the best  option since they could care for Sophie for the week and we could take her home on weekends. If we were to commute to and fro our parents place, the one-hour of travelling would tire us out.

While I’m aware that Sophie doesn’t get one-to-one attention in the infant care, at least I could spend more time with her in comparison. I’m so thankful that she took well to it and hardly fell sick expect for a HFMD episode which all kids were not spared from. Because she’s always been surrounded by different care takers in the infant care and child care, she’s very sociable, friendly and independent. However I’ve heard from friends that many of their children who keep falling sick, resulting in them having to take time off so often that they decided to keep their child home for the sake of their health.

We are also very thankful to have Sophie in this childcare that not only closes later 7:30 in the evening but also provides dinner which is just a relief since the previous childcare that she attended refused to on grounds that dinner time is a time to bond with the family. Seriously, how is that possible when I have to rush from work to pick her before 7 and then still cook? So having a childcare centre that understands the needs of parents is very crucial.

What will make me have baby no 2

If we do have a second baby, I don’t know if we’ll take the same route since the child care centre that Sophie attends now doesn’t provide infant care service. Ideally I would like to be able to work on a flexi-work arrangement so that I can spend more time being the main caregiver to my kids. It helps to remind myself that I am more than just a mom although I have great respect for SAHM who makes sacrifices for their family in a heartbeat.

After reading stories of SAHM on why they choose this route, many say that it’s because there is simply no price tag for the time spent and the bond you have with your child. But for many of us who still have to support our parents and also our children until they finish university, finances is bound to be a huge factor. Of course, it’s also down to managing one’s expectations, like taking holidays to nearby countries instead of going to far flung places. Or taking the public transport instead of driving.

Right now, we live comfortably and like it that way. But if another baby comes, we will just have to rework our sums and tighten our belts. But I know that despite the costs,  the rewards will be pure joy. And as a parent, I’ve learnt that “While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”

And that’s why people decide to have a family to have more kids, simply because we have experienced the joys of their child, watching them grow and having our hearts enlarged to love beyond what we can ever imagine and opening our hearts to happiness we never imagined and that’s something that you can’t put a price tag on.

 

Plus wouldn’t waking up to a face like that bring a smile to your face?

 

 

What’s your take on the new marriage and parenthood package and will this get you thinking to have kids or more kids?

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