If I'm not allowed to have 2, was it less coercive because there was a way around it or something?
> It certainly did work though, it's very unusual to meet Singaporeans with more than 2 kids today.
I'd guess the lack of space and longer working hours would be more of a contributor.
> I'd guess the lack of space and longer working hours would be more of a contributor.
Yup.
Also, Singaporeans of Indian and Malay descent have more children than Singaporeans of Chinese descent. Over time this would lead to the ethnic composition of Singapore changing. However, the government has decided the ethnic balance as it was upon independence is sacrosanct, so they hand out permanent residence status to anyone of ethnic Chinese descent that wants it - people from mainland China, mostly.
Well it would appear in Singapore, you were effectively fined anyways, just in a roundabout way, so I'm not sure how then that translates into less coercive.
> To help convince parents that fewer were better, the government legalized abortion and encouraged voluntary sterilization. Hospital fees went up as a woman had more babies, working mothers were allowed only two paid maternity leaves and a family’s third, fourth and subsequent children were given a lower priority in the choice of and admission to schools. [1]
[1] https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-21-mn-8983-s...
Your quote is correct. But today, since they want more kids, you actually get more with the 3rd, 4th, etc kid - bigger bonus, school priority, savings account, tax rebate. There are half a dozen programs to help. It apparently adds up to over S$100,000 in benefits per kid over their childhood.
https://www.msf.gov.sg/policies/Strong-and-Stable-Families/S...
Friend's mum was spayed or whatever as punishment for giving birth to twins.
Mind you in the 80s they were straight up executing couples who did swinging.
Usually you wouldn’t be punished for having twins (at least in the cities that is). My wife has friends that are twins, their parents struggled to have even one kid so used fertility drugs (where twins is a more common result).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_planning_in_Singapo...