In the past decade, Singapore has been experiencing one of the lowest fertility rates in the world of around 1.2 births per woman, a drastic fall from around 3.2 births per woman in 1970. One of the main reasons behind this is undoubtedly the financial cost of raising a child. The cost of giving birth to your baby at the hospital is just the beginning. From birth all the way till University education, the financial cost of raising a child will continue to increase. Below is a table
While this only serves as a rough estimate of the amount of money that you will be spending on your child, keep in mind that this was drafted out based on the assumption that as they grow older, children will have the independency to cover some small costs by themselves, for instance, earning their own allowance in University through part time jobs. Hence the hard fact is out: the moment you decide to have a child, you will be spending at least $280,000 on that child.
Hence, if you are planning to have a child, you should consider the financial costs involved and take into consideration some financial schemes such as child care subsidies and child insurance schemes to ensure having a child won’t take a toll on your finances.
