Anti-natalist Phase Flashcards
What are the main factors of rapid population growth?
- post war baby boom
- immigration in the 19th century
- natural increase from 1920 onwards
- certain races having larger families such as the Malays and Indians
- lack of birth control methods/ people uneducated on family planning
Why is rapid population growth undesirable?
- there was a shortage of urban housing at that time
- large scale unemployment
- lack of facilities such as schools, hospitals
- economic front may be swallowed by unsustainably large population
What did the government do to solve the rapid population growth problem?
- set up the Singapore Family Planning and Population Board (SFPPB) in 1966
- implemented a policy called Stop At Two
- set up campaigns and spread messages such as Take your time to say yes, or Girl or Boy Two is enough
What were the incentives given by the government during the ANP?
- abortion was liberalized
- sterilization was legalized
- sterilized parents had priority over primary school admissions and had reimbursement of delivery fees
What were the discentives given by the government during the ANP?
- delivery fee increases for parents having their third child
- no paid maternity leave for mother having third child
Was the Stop At Two plan effective?
Yes
- it was very effective: birth rates dropped in the 1st 4 years and has continued to decline. Fertility rates fell from 4.7 in 1965 to the planned level of 2.1 in 1975
- too effective: in mid-1986 to 1987 the birth rates reached a historic low of 1.44 children per women, below replacement rate
Did the Stop at Two policy achieve what was intended?
No.
- instead of just remaining at replacement level, the birth rates dropped even further
- this sparked off a new problem, which was ageing population
Was the Stop at Two policy reasonable?
No.
- the policies did not consider religious beliefs of certain races and socio-economic statuses of people
- higher income families would be able to afford the extra charges and cost of their third child while lower income families would have to struggle
What were the different type of responses from for Stop at Two?
Different races responded differently
- Chinese
- Indians
- Malays
Response of Chinese
- won’t be against the policy
- their religion does not consider abortion to be morally problematic
- religions consist of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism
- allows women to plan their own family
Response for Indians
- against this policy
- Hinduism encourages procreation in marriage so they hardly use birth control methods during marriage
- they prefer to have a son so they may keep trying until they get one
Response for Malays
- their religion Islam regards children as a gift from God
- contraception and sterilization is forbidden
What is rapid population growth?
It is the increase in the number of individuals in a population
When was ANP?
1966 to 1982
