Latest CNNGo.com "Say What? with mrbrown" column: Children are the solution to so many problems
Excerpt:
Just when you thought it was safe to go at it like rabbits in the Year of the Rabbit to fulfill your obligation to the State and produce the prerequisite babies that will bring our fertility rates back up, this piece of news comes out."Childcare fees on the up and up."
It seems that the childcare centers in Singapore are raising their fees by as much as 25 percent, citing rising rental costs and teacher salaries. So where you used to pay what was already an expensive $800 (US$615) a month for full day childcare, you now pay S$1,000 (US$769).
Ouch.
Of course it's safe for my little girl to be carrying a pile of clothes, she doesn't need to see where she's going.
Is it any wonder that couples are either delaying having children or stopping at one or two? Or even 1.5 kids?
Husband: "No dear, I am afraid we can't have another half a kid. We just can't afford it."
Wife: "But the Total Fertility Rate! It's now 1.07! Our nation needs at least 2.1 to replace itself!"
Husband: "And we have exceeded the 1.07 rate by having one and a half kids. Let someone else make up the other 0.6 kid."
Wife: "But our second child will be so much nicer with an upper body …"
Husband: "The childcare center will charge us a full kid's rate if little Bobby has an upper body. He takes up less space on the bus too, because he can stand instead of sit."
And so the battle over finances rages on in the Singaporean household, in one of the most expensive cities in the world. (cont'd)
