Laggards Vietnam, the Philippines and Burma continued to have excessive birth rates. But that was yesterday. In much of East Asia, as in Europe, birth rates have collapsed to well below the replacement rate. Pro-natal policies are now as needed in some countries as birth control is in others. Later retirement is a partial answer to the problems of aging populations and increased longevity.
Immigration is a partial answer to low birth rates.
But given their responsibilities for ensuring minimum standards of health and welfare and for creating conditions for economic stability, governments do have reason to ensure that there is some link between able-bodied peoples' input and output. The issue is not just one of having children who, one hopes, will take some responsibility for their parents' care in old age. The essential point is that governments should have policies on demography, as they do on education, that consider the long-term needs of their society and nation. Let us hope that Singapore's petty-minded approach to chewing gum does not blind others to the wisdom of its policy on this vital question. Time Inc. All Rights Reserved.