Singapore's Aging Population Challenge

This assignment examines the growing issue of an aging population in Singapore. It discusses the factors contributing to this trend, such as low birth rates and increased life expectancy, and explores the potential consequences for society, healthcare, and the economy. The assignment also analyzes government policies and programs aimed at mitigating the challenges of an aging population, including re-employment schemes, eldercare facilities, and financial incentives.

Running Head: AGEING POPULATION IN SINGAPORE
Ageing Population in Singapore
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author Note:

1AGEING POPULATION IN SINGAPORE
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Situation overview.......................................................................................................................2
Government’s Take.....................................................................................................................2
Low Birth-rates............................................................................................................................3
Increased Fertility in the 1940s....................................................................................................3
Enhanced Life-expectancy...........................................................................................................4
Other Nations...............................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References:......................................................................................................................................6

2AGEING POPULATION IN SINGAPORE
Introduction
Time is an imminent force that binds human life and activities, and its most prominent
manifestation is felt in the form of ageing. A nation’s populace is said to be ageing when the
average age escalates, unaffected by demographic factors like death-rate, birth rate, annual
migrations and so on. This is a problem many South Asian countries, where governments are
faced with the uphill task of providing facilities like healthcare, accommodation and basic
amenities to older people who cannot actively contribute to the economy. This adversity is
particularly pertinent in Singapore, which happens to be one of the most rapidly augmenting
economies in the world.
Discussion
Situation overview
Notwithstanding the nation’s economic strong-footing, Singapore has a shocking meagre
rate of birth and a steep quota of ageing people. When Singapore became independent from
Malaysian rule in 1965, its populace was about 1.8 million, who were mostly labourers and
farmers devoid of formal education. The mean age of the citizen has hiked drastically to 36.9 in
2015, with people above 65 constituting 11.8% of the populace, which was about 11.2% in 2014.
Demographic studies reflect that old age benefits policy has been altered in the past few decades,
with the number of citizens in the 16-64 age-group has been dwindling progressively since 1970
(Swee-Hock, 2012).

3AGEING POPULATION IN SINGAPORE
Government’s Take
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong expressed his apprehensions that if this
trend continues, the populace pyramid will turn upside down by 2050, even taking immigration
into account. From 220,000 in 2000, the population of the 65-plus age-group doubled to 440,000
in 2005, and is estimated to rise to 900,000 in 2030 (Kelly, 2017). This has resulted in
sandwiched households, in which about two adults are sustaining both the younger and older
generations. This is bound to adversely affect Singapore’s healthcare facilities and the
opportunities for the coming generations (mom.gov.sg, 2017). Rapid ageing will take a toll on
the nation’s economic progress; as most companies are bound to suffer from productivity issues.
Low Birth-rates
The cause of this situation can be traced back to three main factors. Firstly, the mindset of
people has undergone a significant change since the boosted births of the late 1940s. These days,
Singaporeans are more focused on building prosperous careers, with better education and
increased exposure to global media. People are growing less eager to have babies, as it would
affect their careers, especially the mothers. Under such circumstances, the birth rate at present is
decreasing, causing the ratio of old age to increase as the population of young citizens is
lowering rapidly.
Increased Fertility in the 1940s
The second reason is the post-war baby boom of the late 1940s. After the war, people felt
safer and more eager to have babies at the prospect of a bright future in a peaceful nation. Most
of these children are over 65 now (Heok, 2014). The war had caused a lack of good and
accommodation already, and the situation worsened. The government imposed the two-child
norm and promoted abortion and contraceptives in order to curb the increasing needs at a time of

4AGEING POPULATION IN SINGAPORE
severe deficit. These measures proved to be greatly successful and the rate of births took a sharp
pitfall. The abruptly pared number of children caused a drop in the ratio of children in the total
populace of Singapore, and a subsequent rise in the ratio of older men. This is precisely the key
factor that spurred the relative ageing of the population.
Enhanced Life-expectancy
The advancement of medical sciences is the third factor that has contributed to the ageing
population in Singapore. Efficient health care has resulted in bringing down the mortality rates in
all countries across the world. Hence, this is not an influence on Singapore alone, and can also be
seen with the ageing of the population in Japan, China, Norway and other countries. According
to Statistics Singapore, the rough rate of deaths (per 1000 people) was 5.2 in 1970. That figure
was cut short to 4.5 and 4.4 in 2000 and 2008 respectively (Rutherford & Socio, 2012). The
mortality rate has been in steady downfall since 1970, and so has the ratio of elderly people
increasing. This clearly bears testimony to the advancement of medical facilities of Singapore,
which is ranked sixth in the world by WHO (Huang, Yeoh & Toyota, 2012). Favourable
government policies have greatly helped the elderly in bringing down the medical expenses for
the older people, who cannot earn as much. The government launched the Eldershield policy, a
scheme akin to the 3M framework of Medishield, Medisave and Medifund. Under such schemes,
elderly people are enabled to meet their expenses while also invest their funds for future benefits
(straitstimes.com, 2017).
Other Nations
Such a situation of ageing of the population is present in other countries as well, the
notable ones being Japan, Italy, Greece and Germany. Japan is estimated to have the ‘oldest’
population, as it has the highest ratio of elderly residents- with 25.9% of the population aged 65

5AGEING POPULATION IN SINGAPORE
and above. Japan experienced a baby boom after World War II, between 1947 and 1949.
However, the nation was faced with productivity problems, and like the Singapore government,
the Japanese Government legalised abortions and encouraged the usage of contraceptives
(Muramatsu & Akiyama, 2017). This led to a low fertility and the subsequent ageing of the
population, which has potent effects even today. In Germany’s case, the problem can be
attributed more to political outlooks and gender biases. After World War II, having to choose
between kids and careers, most German women focused on jobs, resulting in a decline in birth-
rates. Since the reunification of Germany in 1903, the government is trying to boost the rate of
births, with considerable effect.
Conclusion
To round the discourse up, the government of Singapore have realised that they are faced
with a serious demographic adversity, and are making efforts to address the problem. The issue
poses a threat not only for the society and healthcare facilities, but most importantly, on the
economy of Singapore. To that effect the government has taken up measures like re-employment
after retirement of elderly people, exclusive housing and transport facilities, reduction in taxes,
free medical facilities and so on. A time will come when this adversity will reach its peak;
however, the Singaporean government and people look to be preparing for the situation in
advance.

6AGEING POPULATION IN SINGAPORE
References:
Heok, K. E. (2014). Ageing Baby Boomers. Write Editions/Tusitala (RLS) Pte Ltd.
Huang, S., Yeoh, B.S. & Toyota, M. (2012). Caring for the elderly: the embodied labour of
migrant care workers in Singapore. Global Networks, 12(2), pp.195-215.
Kelly, N. (2017). Singapore feeling impact of rapidly ageing population. Today Online.
Retrieved from http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singapore-feeling-impact-rapidly-
ageing-population
mom.gov.sg. (2017). Retirement. Ministry of Manpower Singapore. Retrieved 26 August 2017,
from http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/retirement
Muramatsu, N., & Akiyama, H. (2017). Japan: Super-Aging Society Preparing for the Future.
The Gerontologist, 51(4), 425-432. Retrieved from
https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article/51/4/425/599276/Japan-Super-Ageing-
Society-Preparing-for-the-Future
Rutherford, T., & Socio, A. (2012). Population ageing: statistics. House of Commons library
(Standard not. Retrieved Jan 2, 2013, from: www. parliament.
uk/topics/PopulationArchive.
straitstimes.com. (2017). Healthcare needs to transform to cope with ageing population: Health
Minister. Straits Times. Retrieved from
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/eldershield-being-reviewed-panel-to-
submit-proposals-by-end-2017

7AGEING POPULATION IN SINGAPORE
Swee-Hock, S. (2012). The population of Singapore. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.