Some parents and experts have welcomed the new measures, but say career, housing and time concerns remain unaddressed
4-MIN READ4-MIN ListenJean IauPublished: 7:45pm, 24 Aug 2026Singapore’s latest pro-family push has been welcomed by some parents for tackling the costs of raising children, but others say lower fees and more leave are unlikely on their own to overcome deeper worries over time, careers, housing and lifestyle.During the annual National Day Rally on Sunday night, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced a raft of measures to make having children more appealing in the city state.These include increasing childcare leave based on the number of children a family has, topping up funds in children’s post-secondary education accounts and reducing full-day childcare fees in government-supported schools.
Singapore’s total fertility rate (TFR) dropped to a historic low of 0.87 in 2025, underscoring the scale of the challenge facing policymakers.
The government has set up an inter-agency Marriage and Parenthood Reset workgroup, chaired by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah, to address the trend.
In a statement on the National Day Rally measures, the government’s Strategy Group said the announcements were the first set of recommendations from Indranee’s workgroup that Wong’s administration accepted.
