Hong Yiting: Why do we have children?

What needs to be rethinking is how to break individuals and the concepts of parenting and pension centered on individual families, expand to a new model of mutual support and responsibility to each other between generations.

Due to the great event of the Prime Minister's stress, the press room was too busy, and he caught a cold. In addition, the two children had suffered from hands, foot, and mouth disease.I am almost physically weak and mentally bad. I feel like walking dead. I can't help asking: Why did I have a baby in the beginning?

I think that every professional mother must have such experience. It is at this time that it can understand why more and more people choose not to give birth.Regardless of parenting expenses, even though the happiness of the child grows up day by day is irreplaceable, but the suffering that needs to be afforded in life after day, but also increased due to children.The need to deal with work and care for personal health will not be reduced due to children. The various conditions in the parenting process will only be superimposed on the original basis, but after all, everyone has the same limited time, spirit, and physical strength.Therefore, whether a couple should join the child's uncertain factors to disturb the original life, it is not difficult to imagine the resistance of thinking again and again.

Li Xianlong, who has just unloaded the post of prime minister, has led Singapore's long -term development in all levels in the 20 years of the Lord's government. Only his miserable mother -in -law has been worse than the 20 -year fertility rate.He said frankly in the first National Day Mass Congress in 2004: "Now, our most headache is a problem with insufficient infants."

Today, 20 years later, babies are increasingly not enough.Last year, the newborn of residents was only 30,000 and 500, and the overall fertility rate of residents reached a record low of 0.97.The new Prime Minister Huang Xuncai takes over, Singapore, is destined to be a society that faces the dual challenges of aging and young.Such a population imbalance will completely change the future social appearance, which means that the young labor team in the future is far less enough to support huge and longer -lived old people. It will be more difficult to maintain sustainable economic development.

Although the government has worked hard to build a family culture in recent years, promotes flexible work arrangements, and creates more conditions for young people to be beneficial to marriage and childbearing, the overall social atmosphere seems to be in place in supporting parenting.Everyone should have heard from the people around them who are anxious to ask for leave or to work overtime due to parenting or unable to work overtime.The affected boss or a sudden need for a substitute for substitute can be understood by such a reaction, but this is exactly an invisible pressure faced by the parents.

The reason why this kind of emotion is in that our society has always regarded childbirth as a very individual matter and gives parents convenience and support. It is considered that it is purely a family benefit.The greater social role and benefits are not significant.It is difficult to be regarded as a major collective goal for the whole people.

I don't think our society has deliberately for this, but in the past 50 years, on the one hand, everyone must be self -reliant, on the other hand, it is in the period of high national growth. Economic development is a priority task. Parenting has naturally become individual families.Think about the small things that are cherishing and not affecting the overall situation.

As it covers from 1980 to 1996, the millennial generations that belong to my belong to gradually age. In fact, there will be more younger generations to support us.According to the 2023 population briefing, in 2050, the proportion of elderly support will drop to 2.3, which means that each 65 -year -old elderly will only have about two old -age employment adult support.This reduction is not only in economic contribution, but also reflected in the actual care needs that are difficult to meet, because not only the younger generation is not enough, but the family members of each household are less and less.

The government has worked many ministers, including extending the retirement age, encouraging the elderly to continue employment, maintaining active, and self -reliance; explore the establishment of retirement villages and new pension models, with some shared care services, alleviate the younger generation of caregivers in the elders in the family, the elders of the elders in the family,Result.

But perhaps a more fundamental and rethinking is how to break the concept of parenting and pension centered on individual families, expand to a new model of mutual support and responsibility to each other between generations.

This includes the childcare burden of the same generation of employment, such as assisting the investment in the country in this regard; the entire labor team attaches importance to and supports the needs of parenting.Parents have no worries.

In other words, benefiting from the next generation of "the help of the village people", in the future, we must also bear the collective liability of the elderly, including the physical care of each young person to care and assist in the elders of the community, as well as the year of the community.The facilities and services required by the elderly bear part of the cost.

Premier Huang said in an interview before taking office that he was ready to "re -examine everything, review the original assumptions, and consider how to change the practice under different environment and social needs", and in a one that will only make you youngUnder the future population structure that has a hard work "inverted pyramid", the contract between generations may be rethinking and conclusing now.

Do it right, we may have the opportunity to establish a virtuous cycle to reverse the decline in fertility.When the whole people agree, internalize, and jointly contribute to this national cause, the entanglement of the issue of "why having a child" may disappear automatically.