In the country where the fertility rate dropped drastically to 1.05, surveys openly question whether children are really necessary. Within a decade, a quarter of the city-state’s inhabitants will be over 65, and authorities laconically concede: “We will never go back to replacement rate.”
Singapore () – In Singapore, the demographic winter is becoming an increasingly structural fact. To demonstrate this – faced with the evidence of a fertility rate that fell to a dramatic 1.05 – the new surveys and studies tend increasingly to focus not on the cultural, economic and practical aspects of the decline in births (so as of marriages), but in the question: are children really necessary as a complement to individual and couple life?
More and more women believe that if the question remains unanswered, it is not convenient to live the experience of motherhood. Not all of the interviewees start from a negative position regarding children, who, due to education and cultural or religious convictions, continue to be recognized as a value. But specifically, many declare that they are not ready, or feel that they are not adequate, or even, the majority, choose to devote their time and attention to something else.
A high quality of life, but also a multiplicity of existential options and, in general, a change in lifestyle that is one of the most sensitive in Asia led Singapore to anticipate trends that are now also manifesting themselves dramatically elsewhere. of the continent. The average life expectancy in the city-state has reached 83 years and within a decade a quarter of Singaporeans will be over 65 years of age.
Not only a difficult situation, but, as Cindy Khoo, deputy secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group admits, with such a rate of aging the time is fast approaching when society will begin to feel the effects of an aging population increasingly neglected. And she adds that “there is no use deceiving yourself: we will never return to the replacement rate” of 2.1 children per woman between 15 and 49 years of age. The ratio of active to inactive older workers, which is 3:1 today, will most likely drop to 2:1 by 2030.
On the other hand, the data is explanatory: in 2021, a survey sponsored by the National Division of Population and Talent had revealed that 92% of already married participants would have wanted to have two or more children, but 51% had had one or more. none. However, a recent YouGov survey revealed that 25% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 55 do not have children or intend to have children.
Photo: Flickr/hslo
