{"id":65993,"date":"2026-07-04T08:38:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T00:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=65993"},"modified":"2026-07-04T08:38:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T00:38:00","slug":"is-super-ageing-singapore-headed-for-population-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=65993","title":{"rendered":"Is super-ageing Singapore headed for population decline?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Five years into her marriage to a finance executive, Clare* is still doing the sums on leaving behind a life unencumbered by the high price of parenthood.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">At 31, the Singaporean doctor instead finds herself wondering if she will feel different about their \u201cdink\u201d (dual income, no kids) lifestyle in another three years.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cThe thought of having kids also feels more like an obligation just to complete the nuclear family,\u201d she said. \u201cI see so many more disadvantages about having children, rather than being dinks.\u201d<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Clare is not alone. She and her husband are among a growing cohort of Singaporean couples choosing to delay having children, or opting out entirely, even as the city state\u2019s fertility rate has dropped to <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/asia\/southeast-asia\/article\/3356465\/singapore-looks-beyond-baby-bonuses-fertility-hits-record-low?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">a historic low of 0.87<\/span><\/a> \u2013 deep into territory that threatens outright population decline.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Married Singaporeans who spoke to This Week in Asia said a variety of factors had influenced their decision, from prioritising their careers to concerns about the cost of raising a child \u2013 to simply losing the freedom to do as they wished.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-1qeofuq e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-bjn8wh e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A mother and her child stand next to the Rain Vortex display at Singapore\u2019s Jewel Changi Airport. Photo: AFP\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/07\/03\/e5123ee1-a883-4204-b19c-13b093c8ca11_e3cd13d0.jpg\" title=\"A mother and her child stand next to the Rain Vortex display at Singapore\u2019s Jewel Changi Airport. Photo: AFP\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1bj5zno e1gf69pb1\">A mother and her child stand next to the Rain Vortex display at Singapore\u2019s Jewel Changi Airport. Photo: AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Project manager Cara Lee, 31, has ruled out having children altogether. Unwilling to sacrifice her lifestyle and hobbies, she also does not find the company of children rewarding, especially given the extra time commitment. On top of that, she has a brother with special needs who requires much of her attention.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/week-asia\/lifestyle-culture\/article\/3359339\/super-ageing-singapore-headed-population-decline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Five years into her marriage to a finance executive, Clare* is still doing the sums on leaving behind a life unencumbered by the high price&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/65994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}