Singapore's new $55,000 baby bonus dwarfs what American parents get — 'it's hard not to drool with envy'

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong directly addressed the country’s birth rate decline at its National Day Rally in August, and announced an ambitious new country-wide program to stabilize Singapore’s birth rate. Under the new birth rate overhaul initiative, Wong said the Singapore government would provide $55,150 to families for each child, up to age 17. Payments start with $7,000 at a child’s birth, along with annual payments for family educational needs that reach about $55,000 through age 16.

“We want to make a fundamental shift in how we support families,” Wong noted in his address. “We will walk alongside parents throughout the journey of raising their children.”

The US is experiencing a rapid decline in fertility rates

American fertility rates are faring no better, with 53.5 births per 1,000 women in 2024, the lowest ever recorded rate by Data 4 The People, which regularly tracks U.S. birth trends. “The total fertility rate — the number of children a woman would bear across her lifetime at current rates — was about 1.60, well below the 2.1 needed for a generation to replace itself,” Data 4 The People reported.

What’s more alarming is the rate of U.S. fertility decline. That rate was generally steady from 1982 to 2007, but it fell about 23% since then, Data 4 The People noted.

Other institutional experts agree, noting that an actual point of population decline is on the horizon.

“New historical data show that the U.S. is now in its third historic period of extended below-replacement-rate fertility,” stated the Institute of Family Studies in a July 26 study titled, The Demographic Dead End: 2026 State of Fertility Report.

If the U.S. low-fertility rate issue isn’t addressed, it could turn into a crisis, the report noted. “If fertility rates continue their recent decline, the U.S. population will peak around 351 million and begin declining in the 2050s,” the IFS reported. “If fertility rates stabilize, population will peak around 366 million and begin declining in the 2080s.”

Additionally, a continued decline in U.S. birth rates would spill over into the nation’s economy, igniting another crisis.

“A lower population is going to have a negative impact on gross domestic product and Social Security,” Jay Zigmont, founder of Childfree Trust and author of the book The Childfree Guide to Life and Money, told Moneywise.

Noting that James Pomeroy, HSBC’s global economist, estimates a 4% reduction in GDP over the next 20 years due to fertility rates, Zigmont adds that “Social Security needs a constant influx of younger workers to pay for retirees who are claiming Social Security.”

Baby bonuses may not be the panacea that proponents suggest

Public policy experts say that, despite the largesse from the Singapore government and other nations fighting the low fertility issue, there’s little evidence that such programs work.

“Many countries have tried initiatives to increase their fertility rates, but they have had little to no effect,” Zigmont said. “Parents definitely need financial support and support to raise their kids, but it is unlikely to impact fertility rates in developed countries. Hungary [which spends approximately 5% of its GDP on family care], offers a complete income tax exemption for mothers of 2-plus kids, yet it has seen little impact.”