SINGAPORE: After news broke that Singapore’s total fertility rate fell to a record low of 0.87 in 2025, a Singaporean mum took to a Reddit thread to share four reasons why she believes more couples are deciding to stop at one or two children, or not have any at all.
She began by making it clear that she already has two preschool-aged children, so in her words, “she has done her part for Singapore.” But that is where it ends. Her husband recently underwent a vasectomy because they both agreed there was no scenario in which they would go for a third child.
She then laid out the factors that shaped their decision, and that she feels are quietly driving the country’s falling birth rate.
Affordable homes are getting smaller
Although she and her husband were grateful to secure a BTO flat, she said it felt like a missed opportunity that the project only offered up to four-room units.
“I would gladly have bought a 5-room, but it’s not even available. Honestly, a 4-room HDB is already a squeeze for my family with a helper and two young children. I don’t have enough space for a third,” she said.
“Everyone also knows that comparing the old model HDB to the new, the old 4-room is like the new 5-room. If you want people to have more kids, keep the HDB living space bigger, and allow couples with kids or expecting priority to get these. Let it be a lot easier for these people to get the space instead of DINKs.”
Mothers are incentivised to work
She also took issue with how policies incentivise mothers to work, while offering less support to those who want to stay home to care for their children full-time.
“The government is incentivising mothers to work. Childcare has a working mother subsidy. The working mother child relief is very substantial (before they nerfed it). The ones who really love kids and want to take care of them full-time at home don’t get such incentives.”
She added, “It’s super difficult to balance work with taking care of kids so it’s natural how working mothers would want to cap the number of kids they want to have (if they are intending to have any at all). And why make it only for mothers? Can’t fathers be incentivised to do the same?”
“So incentivising mothers to work (and penalising those who don’t) is obviously pushing people to have fewer kids.”
Work culture makes family life harder
Another major factor she highlighted was Singapore’s demanding work culture.
“OT is quite the norm. My husband doesn’t dare take paternity leave for fear of his work performance being affected. I find it difficult to find part-time work too,” she wrote.
“Can we have a law to protect time outside of working hours? No calls or emails allowed, even.”
Expensive tuition
While schools today may claim to be less academically intense, she argued that the pressure has not disappeared. “PSLE isn’t easier,” she said. “Schools teach less, let kids do homework in school. The result? People are mass-flocking to expensive tuition outside of school because school isn’t ‘teaching enough.’”
“It’s depressing for a kid who finishes school just to go for more tuition. Why raise potentially unhappy kids?”
She also said that, because of this, having kids today is more expensive than it was in the past.
She ended her post by encouraging more Singaporeans to speak openly about these concerns.
“I encourage Singaporeans who care to comment more about it on this thread because I know for certain that the relevant government personnel are monitoring popular social media platforms to gauge the ground response.”
“We are facing an inevitable doom.”
Many local users agreed with the mother’s perspective. One commenter wrote, “A fellow mum of 2, and I agree with what you said. On top of that, they refuse to have more child relief for working dads and even reduced the working mum relief.”
Another shared, “The #1 worry that is constantly on my mind is getting my 3 kids (now 12, 10, and 4) their own rooms when they are in their teens. We are living in a 4-room HDB in a prime area. If HDB will build 5-room flats in prime areas AND give priority to large families, it will help A LOT.”
A third commented, “I think we as citizens of this country are facing the end of this civilisation/settlement/nation/country with signs that this land is no longer habitable and not conducive for breeding. Unless drastic measures have been implemented, we are facing an inevitable doom, and [we should] prepare for a mass diaspora of Singaporeans to lands with better prospects.”
In other news, a worried son has turned to social media for advice after his elderly mother became entangled in what he believes is a Facebook scam.
On Wednesday (Feb 25), he shared on the r/askSingapore forum that his mother, who is in her 70s, has been chatting with several men on Facebook who gradually gained her trust.
Read more: Son seeks advice after mum fell for online scam: ‘She is refusing to believe the family’
