SINGAPORE – To address Singapore’s record low fertility rate, policymakers will explore ways to better support couples financially and ease the perceived stress of raising children here.
These are the top two barriers to having children in Singapore, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah on May 21 at a conference on population matters held at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
The conference was jointly organised by the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the Population Association of Singapore (PAS), a non-profit academic organisation.
Following the conference, NUS Medicine and PAS will develop a joint White Paper on fertility and human development, drawing on research and discussions to recommend policy measures.
This is the first time the two organisations are working on such a paper. It is likely to include insights on barriers to marriage and parenthood, and effectiveness of policy interventions across Asia, Europe and other countries.
Singapore’s resident total fertility rate (TFR) fell to a historic low – and one of the lowest globally – of 0.87 in 2025, prompting renewed public debate and the formation of a working group.
The TFR, which refers to the average number of babies each woman would have during her reproductive years, was 0.97 in 2024.
Ms Indranee said marriage and parenthood are becoming less of a priority amid changing notions of what constitutes a meaningful life.
There is also a growing sentiment that Singapore’s environment is not conducive to raising children, because of rising costs of living and a more intense pace of life, added the minister, who chairs the newly formed Marriage and Parenthood Reset Workgroup.
“Many young people are not just asking, ‘Can we afford children?’ They are also asking, ‘What kind of life will we be able to give our children, and what kind of life will we have as parents?’” she said.
She added that time scarcity is the toughest issue to address as it deals with the tension between “two good things”.
Working hard has helped Singapore progress as a nation, but the pursuit of achievement can come at the expense of well-being and pursuing other life goals like marriage and parenthood, she said.
