SINGAPORE: 39,490 babies were born in Singapore last
year, but not all were born of Singaporean parents.
In fact, only 59 per cent of them have both a Singaporean mother
and a Singaporean father. But if births where at one parent is a
foreigner were included, then the figure goes up to 82 per
cent.
Perhaps what is of great significance is that records of
Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) show that Singapore men
fathered 75 per cent of all babies born here, while Singapore women
account for just 65 per cent.
Climbing the career ladder is one reason sociologists give for
the low fertility rate among Singapore women, particularly among
those with degrees.
Associate Professor Angelique Chan, assistant head of Department
of Sociology at the National University of Singapore, said: "A
woman puts a lot of effort, time, overtime, into her work in her
early 20s, mid—late 20s, then she gets to be about 30 years old and
then she is thinking about marriage but it’s hard for her to find
someone (at that age). The older you get, the more entrenched you
get in your lifestyle....and it gets harder to adapt to another
person."
If Singapore men are fathering more babies than Singapore women
are giving birth to, then who is delivering the goods?
6,071 babies were born to Singapore fathers whose wives are
Malaysians, Indonesians, Chinese nationals, or are from other
countries in the region.
Some women from further afield have also been increasing
Singapore’s birth rate.
Singapore’s Total Fertility Rate — which measures the average
number of children a woman will have in her lifetime — currently
stands at 1.29.
Among the Malay and Indian communities, their birth rates have
fallen steadily from year 2000 to 2006.
While the birth rate among the Chinese community has crept up
very slightly, it still remains the lowest of all the three
races.
