Can Money Convince People to Have Kids? Asia Is Finding Out

As populations age and fewer babies are being born, Asia’s wealthiest countries are investing in their efforts to make parenthood more affordable.  Imagine receiving thousands of dollars from the government after having a baby. In the United States, that sounds unreal, but in some of Asia’s wealthiest countries, that concept is being utilized to convince younger citizens that starting a family can be financially possible. Singapore, South Korea, and Japan are all confronting historically low birth rates and fewer babies today means fewer working-age adults in the future to support growing elderly populations. So governments are spending billions on policies designed to make having children more affordable. Singapore has just recently announced an expansion of its Baby Bonus Scheme that has been in place for years. In August 2026, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced a new support package that will eventually replace the existing Baby Bonus scheme. With Singapore’s new system, every eligible Singaporean child will receive a $10,000 Baby Gift, $32,000 in Child Credits distributed from ages one through 16, a $5,000 Child Development Account grant, up to another $5,000 in government matching, and $10,000 toward post-secondary education. The announcement comes as Singapore’s fertility rate fell to a preliminary 0.87 children per woman in 2025, which is far below the roughly 2.1 needed for a population to replace itself without migration. South Korea has faced an even more dramatic decreasing fertility rate as it fell to 0.72 children per woman in 2023, the lowest in the world. The country has since shown signs of recovery as the rate increased to 0.80 in 2025 and the number of babies born increased by 6.8% from the previous year. Parents in South Korea receive a First Meeting Voucher worth 2 million won, or around $1400, for their first newborn and 3 million won for a second or third child. It was recently announced that the support will continue after birth as South Korea’s national Parent Benefit will provide families raising a child at home with 1 million won per month during the child's first year and 500,000 won per month during the second year. Japan’s battle against population decline has been going on for decades and its government has gradually expanded its financial support for families as the number of births continues to fall. The Childbirth and Childcare Lump-Sum Allowance provides families with 500,000 yen, or about $3100, per child to help cover initial expenses. Japan has also expanded its national child allowance where families receive 15,000 yen per month for each child under three and 10,000 yen per month from age three through high-school age. For a third or subsequent child, the allowance increases to 30,000 yen per month. In addition to financial assistance, Japan also provides free early childhood education and care for many children ages three to five. The country offers exceptional parental-leave benefits in order to make balancing careers and taking care of children easier for both mothers and fathers. Asian countries are determining whether their governments can make parenthood affordable enough to change how many children people choose to have and the checks may help, but whether money can actually reverse decades of falling birth rates remains a much more complicated question.