Seven months ago, Mrs Gillian Kong and her husband Carradine welcomed their first-born Giselle into their home.

Their dream is to eventually have four kids.

It is a notion endorsed by the Government, which announced enhancements to the Marriage and Parenthood package on Monday.

If they go for number two, the couple, both 27, will receive a cash gift of $6,000 and enjoy one week of paternity leave, and their baby will get a Medisave account with S$3,000, among other perks.

But these financial carrots are not enough to drive away the clouds of doubt from Mrs Kong's mind.

I appreciate the money, but I need the time to raise the kids too, says this early childhood educator, who adds that her combined household income with her husband is greater than S$7,500. For now, number two must wait, she says.

And it is couples like the Kongs that the Government may need to try harder to persuade - not with money, but perhaps other measures, to have more children. (See report below.)

Mrs Kong, who works as an early childhood educator, clocks up to 12 hours a day at work, beginning at 7am.

Her husband, a civil servant, leaves home at about six in the morning and sometimes returns home at 10 or 11 in the evening.

"I grew up with two siblings and my mother was a babysitter for many years, so I was always surrounded by children," says Mrs Kong.

"I want to have a lot of kids, but I'm not sure if I can find the time to manage the behaviour of multiple little ones at the same time. I want them to grow into good people."

"Kids get sick easily. If I have four and one gets hand, food and mouth disease, they all come down with it. Then I have to take leave to take care of them.

"Will my leave entitlement accommodate that?" she asks.

She is not alone in her concerns.

When you get pregnant, holding on to your job gets challenging, says Mrs Karen Teo, 31.

An offer for a permanent position as a compliance officer was downgraded to a contract position when her employers found out she was pregnant in 2008.

The contract ended about a month before the mother of two kids, aged three and one, was due to deliver her elder child, which meant she did not get paid maternity leave.

"I was extremely upset then. And I am extra cautious about getting pregnant and having a job now," says Mrs Teo, who is in California with her family as her husband pursues his Master's degree.

They intend to return in March next year.

She and her 34-year-old husband are open to having up to four kids, but money is the other issue, she says.

The baby bonus and subsidies have been very encouraging, she says, but adds that these incentives are short-term.

We're talking about a long-term childrearing "project", she says.

We have to have "quality children", she says, which extends beyond academic grades to social skill sets and moral character.

This means that Mrs Teo isn't averse to looking for part-time employment to spend more time with her children.

Unfortunately, this brings the money issue even more to the fore.

"Money depletes and being in a very competitive country, you need to equip the kids with classes which transfer academic knowledge and skill sets.

"These are hefty investments," she says.

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