NUS study shows flexible work arrangements may encourage people to have children

SINGAPORE: A study from the National University of Singapore has shown that Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) could be help boost Singapore’s record-low fertility rate, as these types of work arrangements may encourage people to have children.

The results from the study led by Assistant Professor Senhu Wang from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences was published late last year in the European Journal of Population.

Flexible work arrangements may “significantly” raise the fertility intentions, their plans to have children in the next five years, of young, unmarried working Singaporeans. It is the first study of its kind that looks into the impact of FWAs on such intentions particularly when it comes to unmarried adults.

Two years ago, Singapore’s birth rate reached 0.97 children for every woman, which is substantially less than the 2.1 required for sustainability. The city-state’s total fertility rate has been on a downward trend, going from 1.12 in 2021, to 1.04 in 2022, to its historic low in 2023.

Noting that the effect of FWAs on fertility has been hardly studied so far, Asst Prof Wang said, “Most importantly, we extend the attention to an important and under-studied population who are at reproductive ages and subject to FWA policy changes directly—the unmarried population that has already accounted for over half of the Singapore population aged 20 to 39 in 2022 when the study was conducted.”

The study looked into the five-year fertility plans of 1,092 young and unmarried working Singaporeans aged 25 to 39 across a variety of sectors. They were given different work scenarios and then asked about their plans for having children within the next five years.

The study showed that between five and 17 per cent of those who were given FWA scenarios said they were unlikely to have children in the near future, while around 12 to 22 per cent of respondents in the control group who were given a scenario where there were no changes in their work policies had the same response.

Participants who were given FWA scenarios were also more inclined to get married, in contrast to those in the control group.

Even though the study has limitations, Asst Prof Wang pointed out that intention predicts behavior, and added, “We can expect that a more family-friendly working environment alongside other welfare policies could potentially improve the actual fertility rate in the long-term.” /TISG

Read also: NUS researchers develop breakthrough technique to address age-related fertility challenges