Marriages in Singapore fall further in 2025, but most people say they are happily married: MSF

For both civil and Muslim marriages, there was a larger drop in marriages involving grooms and brides aged 25 to 34 as compared with other age groups.

Couples who wedded more recently continued to show greater stability than those who did so earlier, the report found.

The cumulative proportion of resident marriages that dissolved before the 10th anniversary fell from 17 per cent for those that wed in 2005 to 13.5 per cent for the 2014 marriage cohort.

Data showed that marriages are most vulnerable between the fifth and 10th anniversary. This points to the importance of providing timely support during the early years of marriage to help couples build a strong foundation for the future, MSF said in a statement on July 10.

The median age at which people first get married remained the same in 2024 and 2025, at 31.1 for grooms and 29.6 for brides.

The median age of first-time fathers and mothers increased slightly from 33.6 for fathers in 2024 to 33.8 in 2025, and from 31.9 for mothers in 2024 to 32.1 in 2025.

Among resident females in Singapore aged 40 to 49 who have ever been married, 40.5 per cent have two children, while 25.5 per cent have one child. About 16 per cent of them do not have any children.

Singapore Management University sociology professor Paulin Tay Straughan told The Straits Times the positive findings on marital quality align with Singapore’s view of marriage as a highly valued institution, with those who marry intending to stay together.

“Especially in societies where spouse selection is a private decision, as opposed to being match-made by family, by the time we decided to marry, most are certain they have found their life partner and companion, and they look forward to building their life together,” she said.

Principal research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Institute of Policy Studies Mathew Mathews said the latest figures show that more recent marriage cohorts may be experiencing greater stability, based on cohort dissolution rates.

“This is broadly aligned with the marital quality finding that about 88 per cent of respondents rarely or never considered ending their marriage. However, figures on divorce ideation need to be interpreted carefully.

“It is difficult to know how serious or persistent such thoughts were. For some respondents, the thought of divorce may have been fleeting or occurred during a moment of conflict, rather than reflecting a serious intention to end the marriage.”

One clear measure of lower marital quality would be regularly considering divorce, he said, and figures showed that only a small proportion did so.

The 6.2 per cent dip in marriages is a statistic to pay attention to, Straughan added.

“It tells us that, for whatever reasons, singles are finding it challenging to get married. While marriage and spouse selection are private decisions, we should try to find out if there are structural factors that contribute to this delay.

“For example, do young singles find themselves in a time crunch when it comes to social engagements and courtship? It alerts us to the importance of work-life balance, and how we must protect private time for leisure,” she said.

Mathews said whether the decline in marriages continues will depend on whether younger Singaporeans see marriage and family formation as both achievable and attractive.

“Many still see marriage as attractive but may not feel ready for it, and may wonder if the broader environment such as their work, housing, finances, caregiving support and social expectations is conducive to take the plunge.”

The new Marriage and Parenthood Reset Workgroup comes at an opportune time, he said. The hope is that it will lead to greater clarity in workplace norms, housing transitions, gender expectations, and the pressures young adults face when thinking about marriage and parenthood.