SG’s low population growth: Netizens say it’s ‘hard’ & ‘stressful’ for young adults to start families

Singapore—After the 2020 census report showed there are now more single people and fewer babies born in Singapore, marking the slowest decade of population growth in over five decades, some netizens have pointed out that young adults have an uphill climb in getting an education, starting a career and a family.

In a Reddit thread, many said that they found the news, published on Wednesday (June 16), unsurprising.

“Wow it’s almost as if Singapore is a stressful and hard place to start a family as a young adult,” wrote one Redditor sarcastically.

Another outlined the number of years it takes for Singaporeans, especially males, to get started in life.

“Guys finish their Uni education at 25-26, 3-4 years to settle down in their job and find a partner, 5-6 years to bto and get their flat. It’s becoming the norm for both males and females to get married and produce a baby only in their 30s. Times are different now. Why are people even surprised with the stats?” they wrote.

Others chimed in that the quickest way is to find one’s partner during one’s university years, but, as everybody knows, that’s not possible for everyone.

A female Redditor commented that having children is expensive, adding that she will need to work to bear these costs, but if she does, she’ll end up working even harder to pay for childcare. 

“Then I don’t know why am I doing all these,” she added.

To this, another netizen answered that they’re already taking care of their parents and grandparents, and have even had to care for an uncle and aunt who helped raise them. 

“You want me to take care of a baby too? Wait long long,” they wrote.

Others wondered if Singapore will end up like Japan, a “super-ageing society” where people over 65 are expected to make up one-third of the population by 2050, both in urban and rural areas. 

Many commenters agreed that Singapore has a poor work-life balance.

“No protected time after hours means hard to pursue interpersonal relationships. I know ppl who are doing relatively well but don’t really have the time to do anything so why bother with a child.

“Seems a little whiny but if the govt really wants to take things seriously, there’s a whole bunch of social/behavioural factors to consider instead of just throwing money. Sure the cash helps but you’re only patching the symptoms and not tackling the root cause,” wrote one.

Another called Singapore’s work-life balance “terrible”.      /TISG

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Netizens agree with late Lee Kuan Yew on 5.5 million population