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More Singapore women may skip marriage. Are gender relations behind this?
Marriage is becoming less attractive for women and this has implications for Singapore’s birth rates.
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While marriage continues to be desirable, it is no longer central to the identity of Singaporean youth.
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Kalpana Vignehsa
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In Singapore, the standard narrative has long been that fewer people are having children because fewer people want children. However, a recent analysis from Singapore’s Department of Statistics (DOS) shows that falling birth rates now result primarily from increasing rates of singlehood,
Data that my colleagues and I collected in the Singapore Perspectives 2024 (SP2024) survey helps to explain what is going on. It found that 40 per cent of women between 21 and 34 years old do not foresee themselves getting married.
