Kids: quality not quantity

Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn recently floated a way of resolving the declining birth rate by increasing the amount of financial support to parents from 1,000 baht to 3,000 baht per month per child for a period of seven years.
Apparently the minister is concerned that if the declining birth rate continues unchecked, Thailand will, in the future, encounter a labour shortage crisis that would impact economic development.
The government, last year, designated the declining fertility rate as a national agenda and the Ministry of Public Health launched a campaign to encourage married couples to have children under the concept of “Give Birth, Great World”.
According to this, the state will provide financial support for child raising to ease the burden of married couples and promise reproductive services for couples who want to have children but are struggling to procreate. Unfortunately, the campaign has not been a success.
Mr Phiphat’s idea of increasing the monthly level of financial support to 3,000 baht per child is based on the condition that the newborn babies would be sent to be taken care of and raised by the parents of either spouse in upcountry provinces where the cost of living is lower than in Bangkok.
It is doubtful that this modest financial incentive will attract married couples to decide to have children. For many couples, this is a major issue that involves more than just the financial aspect. It also involves other considerations such as the career path of working women, which may be cut short by the new role of being a mother, the overall economic situation, the quality of education their children can receive, and the growing tendency to remain single and independent.
According to Dr Somchai Chitsuchon, the director of development research at the Thailand Development and Research Institute, the cost of raising a child has increased substantially, especially when it comes to education. Family structure has also changed as households are shrinking, and many grandparents no longer raise their grandchildren.
Singapore, which is facing a similar decline in its birth rate, has offered more generous financial support and other incentives, such as longer maternal leave of six to 12 months. But the response has also not been very encouraging.
Future uncertainties induced by climate change and the increasing deployment of AI and robotics, which may take away many jobs in the future, could also discourage couples from having children because they are concerned they may lose their jobs and lack the financial means to raise their kids.
The extreme weather conditions that are being witnessed globally now and which are likely to be exacerbated in the future will make life even more difficult and less pleasant for later generations. From that perspective, it could be argued that it makes sense for couples to skip having kids so they don’t suffer in the future.
Many jobs now will be lost in the future, like the manning of landline phones and those related to cameras and films. Already, typewriters and many other gadgets have become obsolete or seem destined to become museum artefacts.
Increasing the population by encouraging married couples to have children to address the labour shortage is secondary to improving the quality of the children being raised now, so they have access to a good education and are equipped to meet challenges posed by the advent of new technologies like robotics and automation, as well as the realities of climate change.