MR HO Kwon Ping's commentary is very insightful and resonates with my own experience ("Europe's baby bump holds lessons for S'pore"; March 5).
I am a stay-at-home mother with four children and no maid, help or extended family support. I am able to do this mainly because of the presence of a very supportive husband who shares the burden of child rearing and household chores.
For instance, he takes the children to school before he goes to work, and prepares dinner while I supervise the children.
When my fourth child was born, my eldest son was about to take his Primary School Leaving Examination. My husband took long unpaid leave, which allowed me to support my son through his PSLE.
If it wasn't for my husband's active involvement in the parental and household duties, having three or more children would have been unthinkable.
Hence, Mr Ho is right in saying that young families today want more children only if both parents undertake equal responsibility for child rearing.
He also strikes the right chord when he said that liberalising the employment of domestic helpers would lead only to young families increasingly becoming dependent on them to relieve their stress, but without increasing the intimacy of family life to encourage more children.
In fact, seeing my older children sharing in the household chores and taking care of their baby sister, I realise that not having to rely on an outside person has helped to strengthen the bonds within the family.
What motivates young families to have more children is not merely more cash grants or affordable and easily available domestic help. It is about creating the context to allow both parents to undertake equal responsibilities for child rearing.
This definitely helps to reduce the strain of raising many children while allowing us to experience the joy and satisfaction of having a big family.
Rachel Goh Wee Kheng (Madam)
I am a stay-at-home mother with four children and no maid, help or extended family support. I am able to do this mainly because of the presence of a very supportive husband who shares the burden of child rearing and household chores.
For instance, he takes the children to school before he goes to work, and prepares dinner while I supervise the children.
When my fourth child was born, my eldest son was about to take his Primary School Leaving Examination. My husband took long unpaid leave, which allowed me to support my son through his PSLE.
If it wasn't for my husband's active involvement in the parental and household duties, having three or more children would have been unthinkable.
Hence, Mr Ho is right in saying that young families today want more children only if both parents undertake equal responsibility for child rearing.
He also strikes the right chord when he said that liberalising the employment of domestic helpers would lead only to young families increasingly becoming dependent on them to relieve their stress, but without increasing the intimacy of family life to encourage more children.
In fact, seeing my older children sharing in the household chores and taking care of their baby sister, I realise that not having to rely on an outside person has helped to strengthen the bonds within the family.
What motivates young families to have more children is not merely more cash grants or affordable and easily available domestic help. It is about creating the context to allow both parents to undertake equal responsibilities for child rearing.
This definitely helps to reduce the strain of raising many children while allowing us to experience the joy and satisfaction of having a big family.
Rachel Goh Wee Kheng (Madam)
