sabong live Asia's Baby Crisis: Elon Musk Predicts Singapore's Extinction | What's Behind The Falling Birth Rate?
Falling birth rate in Asian countries (Representational Image) Photo: AP Falling birth rate in Asian countries (Representational Image) Photo: AP 
Discussions on Asia's falling birth rate further gained momentum with tech titan Elon Musk's today's post on microblogging site X where he predicted the doomsday of Singapore due to the collapsing fertility rate.
Highlighting the major concern of declining birth rates and increasing ageing populations in several Asian nations, particularly in Singapore, Musk posted on X, "Singapore (and many other countries) are going extinct."
However, the similar 'baby crisis' trend has also been observed in countries several other countries including South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, China, and India.
Singapore (and many other countries) are going extinct https://t.co/YORyakBynm
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 5, 2024 Declining Total Fertility Rate (TFR)Total Fertility Rate (TFR), in simple words, can be defined as the average number of children per woman at the end of her reproductive period. It is considered one of the primary parameters which provide a tentative measure of a woman's fertility. TFR also holds its importance in being the single most imperative factor in calculating the population growth of a country/state.
As per reports, till the 1970s, women in the above-mentioned countries had a TFR of five children on average while the current rate has dropped to less than one child. The ideal fertility rate required to sustain a population is 2.1.
The situation is particularly grim in South Korea, Japan and Singapore. South Korea's current fertility rate reportedly has dropped to an unprecedented low of 0.72 children per woman while for Singapore, the number stands at 0.97.
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What are the reasons?The decline in the birth rate suggests that the current scenario shares a deep connection with economic pressure and soaring housing costs play a pivotal role. In South Korea, women of childbearing age have given up dating, marriage, and having children due to these constraints.
Several researchers fear that South Korea's population could be reduced to half by 2100 if the trend continues.
Similar situation prevails in Singapore as well where women in their prime childbearing years are choosing singlehood. The tech-savyy nation is undergoing a severe manpower gap and has resorted to robots to boost productivity.
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Countries taking up measuresIn view of the prevailing situation, several governments have opted to pour billions to amend policies in a bid to convince women to have more children.
South Korea has introduced a government scheme where a woman having a child from 2022 onwards receives a cash bonus of USD 1,850 (Rs 1,57,000) to help cover prenatal expenses.
Furthermore, the woman is also entitled to a monthly payout that increases every month until the baby turns one.
The other measures taken by the government to boost fertility rate also include free daycare facilitiessabong live, subsidised payment during childcare leave, and even group blind dates for people to find their partner.