How S’pore is dealing with a falling birth rate

Our cabinet of millionaires adopt “Work sets you free” the Nazi Hard Truth.

OK, OK I’m stretching to breaking what our millionaire PAP ministers want to do. They want senior citizens to work until their 70s. Mad Dog Chee would say until they die, but there’s a reason why he’s Mad Dog Chee.

From the BBC How should countries deal with falling birth rates?

There are basically two main ways in which a country can deal with a falling birth rate – you can keep your population heathier and employed for longer, or you can have large-scale immigration.

Singapore is one of the fastest-ageing countries in the world, and it is going for the first option. [CI comments: Many S’poreans believe that the PAP govt is going for “large-scale immigration”.]

“There is a lot of effort being put into raising the retirement age, training in middle life, and encouraging companies – which have to offer you re-employment up to the age of 69 – to hire older workers,” says Prof Angelique Chan. She is the inaugural executive director of Singapore’s Centre for Ageing Research & Education.

By re-employment, Prof Chan means elderly workers being able to stay in work after they have reached retirement age, if they so wish.

Currently the retirement age in Singapore is 63, but this is due to rise to 64 in 2026, , externaland to 65 by 2030. By that year the age to which people in re-employment can stay in work is expected to have risen to 70.

Prof Chan says that the Singaporean government is also increasing efforts to ensure that every citizen has a doctor “who must take care of you and monitor your condition, and make sure we have heathier cohorts who can continue to work”. [CI: Ah so that’s why my cohort (coming to 69) and younger cohorts are getting “subsidised healthcare.]

She adds that Singapore is spending a huge amount of money “so we have the healthiest kind of population, giving people the opportunity to work [in their old age]”.