Micro-consequences of low fertility in Singapore

The fertility decline of Singapore is often cited as a success story of a developing country’s effort to balance population growth with economic development. Since achieving nationhood in 1965, Singapore’s fertility has fallen by almost 70 per cent in about 20 years: the total fertility rate (TFR) dropped from 4.66 in 1965 to a historic low of 1.44 in 1986, after breaking through the replacement level in 1975. The size of successive birth cohorts also fell by about one-third, even though the number of married women of reproductive ages increased by more than 70 per cent. After 15 years of below-replacement fertility, Singapore can be characterized truly as a lowfertility society.