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Young Jakarta couples think twice about having kid(s) amid urban pressure
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Officials from Singapore's National Population and Talent Division went on a study trip to South Korea and Denmark last month to look at what marriage and parenthood policies worked and what did not. (Shutterstock/-)
I
t was a busy afternoon for Raditya Nugroho on Tuesday as he had to take his 4-year-old daughter to ballet practice while also doing some remote work as a writer at a media company in Jakarta.
But, despite the chaos, he managed to spare some time for The Jakarta Post to share about his decision to only have one kid, a rising trend among young parents in the capital known as the “one-and-done” movement.
“Initially, the thought came because my wife and I were committed to raising our child without the help from our parents or caregivers since we both could work remotely,” he explained. Work-from-home or work-from-anywhere has become common following the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing parents to work and look after their offspring at the same time.
“But, with the heavier workload that we have now [in the new-normal era], it’s just not feasible to have more kids,” said Raditya, who asked to use a pseudonym because the issue was quite sensitive in Indonesian society, where it is a common belief that more kids will bring more fortune to families.
As his daughter grew up and Raditya began to plan for her education and future well-being, the decision to have only one child grew firmer.
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