There’s been some debate around the family that is raising seven kids on less than $3,000 a month. It’s irresponsible. It’s fantastic. They’re leeching off society. They’re building Singapore’s future. Respect. Rage.
I guess my story is something like that, and I’m a little more comfortable sharing about it now that we are moving to Finland for the next few years. My wife and I have six children, and I’m somewhat the sole breadwinner. Our kids qualify for the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme (free books, uniforms, transport and after-school care subsidy, most school activities free) but that’s a matter of mathematics: the threshold for qualification is a per-capita income of $690. That’s $5520 for our family of eight. My monthly salary is below that threshold and I earn enough to pay the other bills.
Singapore is a lot more “welfare” than most people think, if you know how to navigate the system. The PAP is mostly true to its promise that no Singaporean will want, but that is contingent on knowledge and the willingness to access that aid. At that per-capita income level we also qualify for rather heavy subsidies for pre-school childcare, plus various perks from community groups and programmes.
I employ my wife under one of the businesses I control – her job description is to take care of our children. It’s a real job, and far more work than I ever do. I pay her an exploitatively small salary and CPF (think FDW), and as a working mother she qualifies for all the attendant benefits. She is a professional stay-at-home-mum, and a very good one. We do not want to employ a helper.
(Finland treats stay-at-home parents as contributors to society, and pays them a benefit of several hundred Euros a month; Singapore sees non-working parents as a socio-economic liability. More on that some other day).
My wife and I have no expectations of financial support from our kids when we are older. I have no intention of ever stopping work, and we have a property we can downsize from. We have some other long-term investments. We are well-insured. My parents sometimes give us support. Friends too. We have enough to show generosity to others.
Are we leeching on society? Yes we are, right now. Even if we paid for our school fees and kids’ transport and uniforms and childcare we would STILL be leeching on society. Education is subsidised for all citizens. Healthcare is subsidised for all citizens. For most of us with children, the direct taxes we pay are far lower than the subsidies we access every year. Consider education:
Government Recurrent Expenditure on Education Per Student (I can’t embed the HTML with my free WordPress account)
Even if you are a well-off, you can send your kid to an anchor operator childcare and get $300 a month basic subsidy. You can get treatment in a C class ward or the polyclinic and enjoy hefty subsidies.
In return, my children will serve NS (where applicable), pay taxes when they work here, and make money for their employers, which will produce even more tax. They will spend money to live, which will fill GST coffers. They will contribute to CPF, which the G will (at least in part) take and invest into NIRC (and more reserves). That’s 20 years from now, when you will need someone to pay taxes to fund your retirement. Maybe mine, but I don’t intend to retire.
If you want to be calculative, think of it as paying a short-term cost for a long-term investment for the nation. But really, these children are our people, our citizens. We owe it to all our citizens to provide an environment where they can develop to their full potential. It is a sensible financial decision, as well as a sensible moral decision.
Featured image from Pexels.
New Worlds 