SINGAPORE – The past year of raising his daughter, who turned one in December 2025, has been “deeply rewarding” for 31-year-old Mr Chen. Seeing her grow and laugh has been priceless, he said.
Still, he and his wife, a nurse, have decided that one child is enough.
Despite expanded parental leave, the dual-income couple say the time and commitment required to raise a child well, together with limited childcare leave, make the prospect of a second daunting.
They had initially hoped for two children, so the siblings could keep each other company.
Since their daughter was born, Mr Chen and his wife, who used to host dinner parties with friends almost weekly, have had less time for social events.
“After seeing the time and effort it takes to properly bring my daughter up with love and care, I don’t think I can in good conscience have another,” said Mr Chen, who declined to give his full name.
Wanting to be a present parent, the business consultant fears that adding a second child to the mix in Singapore’s fast-paced work culture will make it impossible to give both children the attention they deserve.
“Employers do not benefit from giving their employees more time with their families,” he said. “They would profit more from someone who can dedicate more time to the job, not someone rushing off to fetch their child from school or leaving to take a kid to the clinic.”
Several couples, like Mr Chen and his wife, interviewed for this story declined to give their full names, saying they feared being judged for preferring to have fewer children – or none at all.
Their views reflect a broader shift in attitudes here towards parenthood, as Singapore’s preliminary resident total fertility rate (TFR) fell to a historic low of 0.87 in 2025, down from 0.97 in 2024.
This refers to the average number of babies each woman would have during her reproductive years.
Preliminary figures show there were about 27,500 resident births in 2025 – the lowest number in Singapore’s records and about 11 per cent fewer than the 30,808 births in 2024.
A resident birth refers to a child born to at least one parent who is a Singaporean or permanent resident.
Without new measures, Singapore’s citizen population may start to shrink by the early 2040s, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, stressing that supporting Singaporeans in starting families is a “top priority”.
Speaking in Parliament on Feb 26, he illustrated what it means for the country if the TFR remains at 0.87. For every 100 residents today, they will have just 44 children, and a mere 19 grandchildren.
“Over time, it will be practically impossible to reverse the trend because we will have fewer and fewer women who can bear children,” he added.
Associate Professor Intan Azura Mokhtar, assistant provost at the Singapore Institute of Technology, said a TFR of 0.87 means that a couple will have fewer than one child in their lifetime. A TFR of 2.1 is needed for a population to just replace itself.
In the long run, this could translate into a much heavier ageing burden. For every economically active adult, there would be 2.3 seniors to support.
Such a demographic shift would require more healthcare and social services to support an aged population, along with higher government spending and a heavier financial burden on working-age adults, she said.
“This may lead to working adults deciding not to get married or settle down to start a family, as the direct costs may be too high to bear. It may mean we end up in a vicious circle, down a slippery slope,” said the former MP.
Singapore Management University law don and former Nominated MP Eugene Tan said a dwindling labour force could result in a less vibrant economy, with gaps not just in numbers but also the quality of workers.
“We probably have to get used to a smaller labour force but one of diverse capabilities,” he said, adding that advanced technologies like artificial intelligence can help to multiply impact.
Singapore has grappled with shifting fertility patterns for decades.
In the 1970s, the Government’s “Stop at 2” campaign successfully encouraged families to limit themselves to two children.
