Record-low fertility and the decision to stay child-free
Singapore’s total fertility rate fell to a record low of 0.87 in 2025, according to figures cited across reports by CNA, The Straits Times, The Star and the South China Morning Post. The decline continues a long-term trend: the resident rate stood at 1.41 in 2001 and 1.21 in 2011, The Straits Times noted. A Department of Statistics analysis identified the growing share of women remaining single as a major factor.
Against that backdrop, a YouGov survey conducted in July and reported by the South China Morning Post found that nearly one in four Singaporeans aged 18 to 44 had no children and did not intend to have them. Content creator Zahir Latif, 42, and his wife, a writer, told the newspaper they have repeatedly decided against parenthood. They cite unstable freelance income, limited time, and a fear of “losing themselves.” “Besides money, time is something Singapore struggles to give back to its citizens,” Latif said. “If you want to get enough sleep, your day is pretty much over in a few hours after work.”
A fundamental shift in family policy
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong used his third National Day Rally on 23 August to announce what multiple outlets described as a fundamental reset in how the government supports families. Speaking at ITE College Central, he said the aim is to “make it easier for Singaporeans who want children to start and raise a family” and to move support beyond the birth of a child to the full journey of parenthood. The measures form the first tranche of recommendations from the Marriage and Parenthood Reset Workgroup, chaired by Minister Indranee Rajah and launched in April after the fertility rate dropped to 0.87.
Wong had signalled the change in approach in June at the Singapore Press Club, saying the government would rely less on procreation incentives and more on creating a family-friendly environment. Even if the efforts do not raise birth numbers, he said then, they remain “still worth doing.” At the Rally he called the new package “one of the best investments we can make.”
Nearly S$70,000 in direct support per child
Central to the announcement is the new SG Child Support Package, which replaces the Baby Bonus Scheme and the Large Families Scheme. Every Singaporean child will receive almost S$70,000 in direct financial support by age 17, CNA, The Straits Times, The Star and the Australian Financial Review reported. The package is universal regardless of birth order.
Details released by the National Population and Talent Division and carried by CNA show that each eligible newborn starting 1 April next year receives a S$10,000 cash gift disbursed in two tranches, a S$5,000 CDA First Step Grant with up to S$5,000 government co-matching, S$2,000 in Child Credits annually for the first 16 years, and a S$10,000 top-up to the Post-Secondary Education Account at age 17. Support now runs to age 17, up from age 12. Children from single-parent families will also receive the cash components; the NPTD emphasised there is “no shift in thinking” on supporting parenthood within marriage, but that every Singaporean child’s development matters.
CNA reported that a firstborn stands to receive S$42,000 more than under present schemes by age 17, while a third child receives S$19,000 more. As of June 2026 more than 610,000 children aged 17 and below across 380,000 households are expected to benefit. Large families with three or more children will continue to receive additional help with higher costs; the Ministry of Transport will address transport expenses and the Ministry of National Development is studying further housing support. The Large Families Scheme itself has been discontinued.
More leave, lower fees, housing adjustments
Every working parent will receive 8 to 12 days of childcare leave a year depending on the number of Singaporean children aged 12 and below, up from the current six days for children six and under and two days for those aged 7–12. The government will fully reimburse employers for the cost of all statutory child-related leave up to a limit. For a couple with three primary-school children the total rises from four days to 24 days, The Star noted.
Full-day childcare fees at government-supported preschools will fall to S$150 a month and infant care to S$300 a month by 2030, applying to every Singaporean child regardless of household income. Current fees after basic subsidies range from S$365–S$559 for full-day childcare and S$746–S$1,256 for infant care, CNA reported. Reductions begin progressively from 2028. The government will also extend full subsidies regardless of the mother’s working status and expand the network of government-supported centres, which already cover about 80 per cent of preschoolers.
Housing measures include raising the Build-to-Order income ceiling from S$14,000 to S$16,000 and the executive-condominium ceiling from S$16,000 to S$18,000, effective for eligibility letters from 24 August. First-time flat applicants will receive one additional ballot chance for every child. The Star reported that Singapore plans to spend nearly S$7 billion on related family initiatives this fiscal year.
Business response and remaining gaps
Business leaders welcomed the full government reimbursement of leave costs but raised practical concerns. Leon Lai, CEO of Betterment Group, said advance planning and departmental empathy can cover gaps. Ronald Soh of Win-Pro Consultancy countered that “the actual person has also been taken away,” noting that SMEs operate lean. Julius Holmefjord-Sarabi of Aureus Academy and Hao Shuo of the Singapore National Employers Federation also spoke to CNA, with SNEF calling the commitment significant while acknowledging staffing pressures, especially in sectors without remote-work options.
In a CNA commentary, Kalpana Vignehsa, senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, argued that the deeper change is the reframing of child-rearing as “social infrastructure.” She noted, however, that the package still leaves unaddressed the opportunity costs of care—foregone income, stalled careers and lower retirement savings—and that workplace culture can undo policy gains.
Population realism and immigration
Wong stressed that even with the new measures the total fertility rate is “still likely to fall far short” of replacement. Relying only on births would shrink and age the citizen population more rapidly. Singapore has always been shaped by immigration; one in three marriages is now between a Singaporean and a non-citizen. The government will refresh the citizen population at a “measured and sustainable pace,” manage the foreign workforce in a “careful and controlled” way, and continue to broadly maintain the current ethnic balance so that Singaporeans remain “the majority in our own country.” Integration, he said, works both ways.
The workgroup is due to release fuller recommendations in early 2027. Other Rally announcements included plans to merge islands south of Jurong Island into a new western island for power infrastructure, studies of undersea tunnels to Pulau Tekong, and requirements for social-media platforms to enforce a minimum age of 13.
Perspectives on the path ahead
Government officials present the package as a long-term investment in making parenthood achievable rather than a transactional incentive for births. Business representatives express conditional support, welcoming cost relief while highlighting operational strain. Academic and research voices, including Vignehsa, welcome the logical shift toward collective infrastructure yet point to unfinished work on opportunity costs and workplace norms. Individuals such as Zahir Latif and his wife illustrate a parallel reality: for a significant minority, the decision to remain child-free rests on time, financial insecurity and lifestyle priorities that cash and leave alone may not fully resolve.