The economy of Singapore is increasing rapidly yet it is also facing the threat of declining birth rate which causes the aging population. This fact is cited in two articles of Wendy Tan and Grace Chua from The Strait Times Interactive Website which are attached in this report. It can be argued that Singapore is not alone among developed nations in having a declining birth rate, however, the aging population, for a small population like Singapore, can be quite serious. It has also been noted that family and marriage are not only the private matters left to individual but also have impacts on our nation and society. Therefore, it is very important for the entire community to find out the problems and solutions for them as well. This can be support and strengthen the formation of families to raise birth rate of Singapore.

As can be seen from these two articles, some reasons were shown such as rising infertility rate, liberal view towards marriage commitment, child-bearing, pragmatic government etc. This paper, hence, aims to evaluate these causes individually based on the theories of Kou & Wong (1979), Salaff (1997) and Strau

Firstly, traditionally, people in Southeast Asia lived in extended families. Nevertheless, Singapore is not that case. It has been an urban society and most people live with their immediate families in apartments even before industrialization. Today, about 78% of families in Singapore are made up of parents and children only. The average household size is four persons. This proves that the nuclear is not the emergence of industrialized but adapts itself to the modern industrial system. With the increasing in living standard, education and “Western” views, there is also a new breed of better-educated Singaporeans who want smaller families.

Besides, there are more married women in employment. While the culture of gender roles has changed, the practice remains traditional. Once married, most women usually take full responsibility for housework when they hold full-time jobs.

· Supporting parents to prepare for parenthood better. They can draw from family, community and government resources to support them in bringing up their children.

In fact, Singapore’s pragmatic government is offering money and incentives to encourage people to have more children. For example, tax rebates for parents having two or more children; the Baby Bonus and 3rd Child Maternity scheme were introduced in April 2001 to further support parents who wish to have larger families; Edusave, etc.

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