Government may rope in social media influencers to help raise birth rate
The government is considering seeking the help of social media influencers to create a seductive mood that would encourage young Thai couples to have babies, in an effort to correct the worrying decline in birth rate over the last 50 years.
The government has been working on many solutions to correct the problem of low birth rate, Deputy Public Minister Satit Pitutacha said on Wednesday, revealing for the first time a proposal to seek the help of online influencers.
The media has dubbed it the “Wow Factor”. Satit said it could be expanded and further enhanced by projecting celebrities who have children as role models, to encourage couples to have children or influence young people to get married.
Satit said the government is ready to play a supportive role in the Wow Factor initiative, through long-term solutions such as tax incentives, scholarship,s or even a subsidy for each newborn – like those provided in Singapore or Japan, although they have not been very successful.
If pushed as a national agenda, more governmental support would be provided as short-term solutions, excluding those involving fiscal policy and effective budget planning.
