Proposals to boost birth rates

This is one highly debated topic recently. These 2 articles appeared on newspapers today.
PAP Women's Wing suggests more help for couples to start families 

A raft of ideas to boost Singapore's birth rate

The proposals include:

1. Housing

• A scheme for married couples to rent flats in both mature and new estates while waiting for new Build-to-Order (BTO) flats.
• A grant, in the form of CPF or Medisave top-ups, for married couples who live with their parents.
• Couples with children or those expecting a child could be given priority to BTO or Sale of Balance flats near their parents at mature estates. Other couples could also be given more ballot chances to buy a BTO flat near their parents.

This is not applicable to me anymore. Thinking back, I was one of the lucky few who got my flat on 1st try. Thanks to the SERS scheme, I got a new flat that is left over after those en bloc people (including my MIL) have chosen theirs. And that is how I'm the lucky few who get to stay near and not with parents/in laws, having a support network nearby and yet distant enough to avoid conflicts.

2. Shared parental leave

• Two of the four months of maternity leave could be for either maternity or paternity leave.

I don't foresee any effect in my case. Hubby only takes leave to play computer games and do his own things. He doesn't take leave to spend 1-on-1 time with P. Hence, I should still be better off taking 4 months of maternity leave by myself.

3. Pre-school education

• Government to intervene to raise the quality of education and affordability.

Ahhh, finally something that applies to me. Actually, I think the more important thing they need to tackle is the lack of educators in the preschool field. To get low teacher-student ratio, each preschool can probably only take in 15-20 students at each level. Both cheap and expensive preschools have an insane waiting list. I have more trouble seeking out a vacancy that trying to cope with the costs. That being said, I won't say no to more subsidies ;)

4. Workplace

• Provide double tax relief for employers and match them with relief employees when staff goes on maternity leave.
• A fund could be set up to train mothers who wish to re-enter the workforce.

Hmmm, if I were to put myself in the shoes of my company, what will I look for? For one, my company demographics tends towards the middle age trend. I think there are only 3-4 of us who are of child-bearing age. However, being a small company, the absence of any of us is very significant. For example, my boss only has 1 direct report (me) in the Singapore office. If I go on maternity leave, there will be no one to handle day-to-day operations unless they bring in a temp worker. The workload is always the problem, so if they can address this, I think employers would be happier too.

5. Assisted reproduction

• Increase subsidy for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) from the current S$3,000 per cycle for three cycles to S$5,000 per cycle for five cycles. Also, extend the eligibility for the subsidy to private medical centres.

I won't rule out assisted reproduction in future. Costs of living and raising a child is quite high. I think our combined income can only support 2 offsprings at the moment. If income levels become more satisfactory when I go into mid 30s, I might need to resort to IVF to get my #3. I had an ex-colleague who successfully underwent IVF to give birth to a son at 40 years old. I'll keep my options open for now.

6. Medical insurance for newborns

• Subsidised premiums for a "Baby Shield" insurance scheme, which can offset expenses for serious congenital conditions.

Eeeks, this brings back memories of my pregnancy hormones, constantly worrying if P is going to be born with congenital conditions, whether she have ugly birthmarks, etc. I've heard stories of 1 day in NICU raking up $1k of expenses, and really wonder where to get that money from. If this "Baby Shield" scheme materialise, I'll be quite happy.

If there's 1 thing I can wish for, it will be for medical expenses related to pregnancy be claimable under employee benefits. In the companies I have worked for, this is always an exclusion. WHY?? Pre-natal checkups and scans are not cheap, and Medisave only allows us to claim up to $400. If I recall correctly, my prenatal package costs close to $600 and scans cost an extra $200-$300.  My hubby used to ask me "How did the poor people afford to get pregnant?"