Singapore Urges Baby Boom to Avert Labor Shortage

Singapore, now seeking to encourage a baby boom after years of proclaiming that “two is enough,” faces a long-term threat to its economy because of a labor shortage, a government report says.

A labor shortage, rather than a lack of export markets, will curb growth in this small island republic in the years ahead, the Trade and Industry Ministry’s Economic Survey for the third quarter of 1987 says.

“Despite the entry of about 30,000 (school) dropouts and graduates into the labor market in the first half of the year, the unemployment rate declined and the labor market became increasingly tight,” says the survey, released Thursday.

“Increasingly, labor supply, rather than effective external demand, will become the most significant constraint to overall growth.”

A recent report from the Population Planning Unit said the number of children born to each woman fell from more than three in the late 1970s to an all-time low of 1.44 last year.