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By Phan Anh   July 2, 2026 | 05:00 am PT Google Get VnExpress first in Google Search info See more of the news you trust. Make VnExpress a preferred source to prioritise our updates in your Google search results

University-educated women in Singapore have fewer children, marry less

The survey, published by the Singapore Department of Statistics June 30, also documented shifts in home language and educational attainment across the city-state.

Singlehood rose among residents aged below 40 compared with 2020. The share of unmarried women aged 25 to 29 climbed from 69% to 73.4%, while among men the sharpest increase came in the 30 to 34 group, rising from 41.9% to 47.6%.

Among those in their 40s, men with lower educational attainment were more likely to remain single. Women aged 30 to 49 with a university degree or higher, by contrast, recorded a higher rate of never having married than peers in other educational groups.

Despite the rising proportion of single adults, the traditional family of a married couple and their children remained the most common household type, accounting for 47.6% of resident households. That was down from 50.4% in 2020.

The survey also reflected a continuing trend toward smaller families. The average number of children born to ever-married women aged 40 to 49 fell from 1.76 in 2020 to 1.67 in 2025. The proportion of women with two or more children declined from 62.5% to 58.4%.

Women with higher levels of education tended to have fewer children. Those holding a university degree had an average of 1.59 children, compared with 1.84 among women with secondary education or below.

English remained the most commonly spoken language at home. 58.1% of residents aged five and above reported using it most frequently at home, a sharp increase from 48.3% in 2020.

The General Household Survey 2025 covered 27,324 households and achieved a response rate of 86.8%. It forms part of Singapore's Comprehensive Labor Force and Household Survey Programme.

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