What this lesson teaches
I can explain why a government must plan ahead for change so that its policies keep working.
Syllabus K336, Issue 1, Guiding Question 3, Principles shaping governance. Anticipating change and staying relevant
Make a guess
Singapore's resident fertility rate was 0.97 in 2024. A society needs about 2.1 to replace itself. What do you think this means over time?
- The population will stay the same size as it is now.
- Fewer workers will have to support more older people.
- It matters mainly to individual families, not to the country.
Show the answer
Fewer workers will have to support more older people.
Each generation is smaller than the one before, while people live longer. This changes what the country must spend on.
Singapore has fewer babies and more older people. This forces the government to plan ahead and make trade-offs between groups.
The total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children a woman would have in her lifetime. A society needs about 2.1 to replace itself. Singapore's resident TFR was 0.97 in 2024, the same as in 2023. So each generation is much smaller than the one before.
At the same time, people live longer. About one in five Singapore citizens was aged 65 or above in June 2025, compared with about one in eight in 2015. So there are fewer working-age people for each older person.
This matters for deciding what is good for society. Spending more on older people's healthcare, or on support for young parents, means less money for other needs, or higher taxes. Different groups put different needs first. Leaders must plan years ahead, because the effects of today's birth rate are felt decades later.
One response is support for parents. From 1 April 2026, working parents can share 10 weeks of government-paid parental leave, on top of existing maternity and paternity leave. This aims to make it easier to raise children, but no one policy can decide how many children families choose to have.
- TFR
- Resident total fertility rate 0.97 in 2024 (2.1 needed to replace the population).
- Ageing
- About one in five citizens aged 65 or above in 2025, up from about one in eight in 2015.
Real examples to use
Shared parental leave
From 1 April 2026, working parents can share 10 weeks of government-paid parental leave, announced at the National Day Rally in August 2024.
Worked example: Using this briefing in an answer
A case study on Singapore's falling birth rate asks how far government support can change what families decide.
- Show you know the issue: Singapore's resident TFR was 0.97 in 2024, far below the 2.1 needed to replace the population.
- Link to the syllabus idea: an ageing population is a change the government must anticipate, because fewer workers will support more older people.
- Use it for balance: the government can make parenthood easier, for example with 10 weeks of shared parental leave from 2026, but cost, housing and personal choices also shape family size.
- In Question 5, this contextual knowledge can earn bonus credit if it helps you judge a source.
Watch out for this
Low fertility is only a family matter, so it has nothing to do with government.
Each family decides for itself, but the total affects the whole country: the size of the workforce, taxes and care for older people. That is why it is a public issue.
Check your understanding
From April 2026, working parents can share 10 weeks of government-paid parental leave. Why is this a trade-off?
- It helps young parents, but uses public money that other needs could have had.
- It helps parents but takes healthcare away from older people, so it is unfair to them.
- It helps parents at no cost, because the leave replaces existing maternity leave.
Show the answer
It helps young parents, but uses public money that other needs could have had.
Right. Money spent on one group's needs cannot be spent on others, so leaders must weigh priorities.