List of countries offering financial incentives to boost birth rates

The authorities of Singapore this week announced the most significant overhaul of the country’s family support system in years, pledging over 55,000 dollars per child. Comparable incentives are available in the UAE, South Korea and Hungary, where governments are also using financial measures to address declining birth rates.

Singapore raises the stakes

The Singaporean authorities this week announced the most comprehensive overhaul of the country’s family support system in years. The government plans to provide over 55,000 dollars per child approximately 25.9 mln tenge at the current exchange rate combining one-off payments, tax incentives and extended parental leave.

The rationale is clear from the demographic data. In 2025, Singapore’s total fertility rate (TFR) fell to 0.87 births per woman, down from 0.97 a year earlier. Demographers estimate that a fertility rate of 2.1 is required to maintain population replacement.

Singapore’s current rate is therefore nearly three times below the replacement level.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong presented the plan in his national address on 23 August. He pledged to provide sustained support to families for many years following the birth of a child rather than relying solely on one-off payments. He also noted that by 2030, one in four residents will be aged 65 or above.

UAE offers the broadest range of financial support

In the United Arab Emirates, the government provides between 50,000 dollars  and 200,000 dollars upon the birth of a child, equivalent to approximately 23.5 mln tenge to 94 mln tenge. Families with a monthly income below AED 50,000 are additionally eligible for a monthly allowance of AED 600 per child, subject to a maximum of four children and a maximum payment period of five years.

Additional measures are available to larger families. For the fourth and fifth children, Emirati authorities extend the mortgage repayment period by three years. Following the birth of a sixth child, AED 40,000 of the family’s outstanding debt is written off, equivalent to slightly more than 5 mln tenge.

Eligibility for these benefits is limited to UAE citizens. Foreign residents, including those who have lived in the country for decades, are not eligible for this support. At the same time, the UAE’s fertility rate stands at 1.21 births per woman.

South Korea varies support by county

South Korea has one of the world’s lowest fertility rates, at 0.8 births per woman. The government is responding not only through national programmes but also through substantial local incentives, which vary considerably from one jurisdiction to another.

At the national level, the support package combines a one-off birth payment with a monthly parental allowance. Over the eight years following a child’s birth, the total amount of government support can reach approximately 22,100 dollars or around 10.4 mln tenge.

Some rural counties offer considerably more generous incentives than the national government. In Yeonggwang County, which has ranked among the country’s rural areas with the highest fertility rates for many years, families receive KRW 5 million for their first child, while the payment rises to KRW 35 million for a sixth child - approximately 1.7 million tenge to 11.8 million tenge.

In neighbouring Gochang County, the payment is fixed at KRW 20 mln regardless of birth order, equivalent to approximately 6.8 mln tenge.

Hungary devotes a small-country budget to demographic policy

Budapest has been allocating substantial resources to family policy for the past decade, with expenditure comparable to the budget of a small country. Since 2015, approximately 2 bln euro has been allocated to such programmes, equivalent to more than 1 trillion tenge at current exchange rates.

A couple with three children who builds a home in a small settlement can receive up to HUF 58 mln in non-repayable housing support. This is more than 150,000 dollars, or approximately 70.5 mln tenge per family, excluding a preferential loan available under the same programme.

Despite the scale of these investments, the country’s fertility rate has not increased over the past decade. Demographers argue that families who had already planned to have three children simply brought their plans forward. Families that had not intended to have several children, meanwhile, were not sufficiently incentivised by the financial support.