SINGAPORE: A man took to Reddit on Tuesday (Jan 7) to ask if he and his non-local PR wife, who has zero savings, can afford to have a baby in Singapore.

He shared his concerns on the r/askSingapore forum, saying his wife’s been wanting to start a family for a while, but he’s been holding back because of the financial stress he’s dealing with.

The man mentioned that they have an annual household income of around S$100,000, but he’s been paying for most of their household expenses during their two years of marriage. On the other hand, his wife covers her own bills and has a few PayLater instalments.

To add to the challenge, they have a Build-To-Order (BTO) flat in the works, but his wife isn’t listed on the application since she wasn’t a PR when they initially applied.

When the topic of renovation costs came up, his wife suggested he take out a renovation loan instead of pitching in herself.

Likewise, when they talked about the costs of having a baby, including prenatal visits, baby essentials, and confinement expenses, she suggested they head to JB (Johor Bahru) to save money. 

She also suggested they could stay at a confinement centre and buy baby items across the border to reduce costs.

Uncertain if this could work, he asked the Reddit community, “Can we afford to have a kid if the wife has zero savings even though she says she can save when the baby comes, and she will have the maternity leave benefits to cover some of the costs?”

“If the wife wants to have children as soon as possible, then she needs to buck up and contribute accordingly…”

In the comments, many users were strongly against the couple’s idea of having a baby, pointing out a few key issues. First, the husband was hesitant due to his financial stress. 

Second, the wife wasn’t contributing adequately and seemed willing to offload all the expenses onto her husband. Third, the couple wasn’t financially stable yet, making the timing questionable.

Many users felt that having a baby under these conditions would only add unnecessary pressure.  One user said, “Uh, no. This is a lot of big costs coming together at the same time. Suicidal at best.”

Another commented, “Sometimes, it doesn’t mea...