Housing in Singapore: marriage, child-bearing and the Singaporean dream

Abstract

The fertility rate in Singapore has been continuously falling despite the numerous implementation of pro-natalist policies, signifying the country’s gradual entry into its declining phase. Homeownership has been reported to have a causal relationship with marriage and fertility across various scholarships. In particular, the state-owned Build-To-Order (BTO) flats are perceived as the most economically viable options for most young couples to acquire housing in Singapore with a positive correlation to marriage. To gather a deeper understanding of the BTO scheme and marriage and fertility rate, this paper seeks to measure the scheme’s impact on marital and child-bearing decisions in Singapore. Through semi-structured in-depth interviews with 10 couples, this study argues that the BTO scheme is fairly effective as both a housing and pro-natalist policy. Moreover, we also explore the intrinsic and extrinsic factors beyond the BTO scheme that influence a couple’s family formation plans. Lastly, we examined the extent to which couples can make autonomous choices regarding marriage and childbearing while having to comply with the requirements of the BTO scheme. With homeownership being a key factor in family formation, we advocate for further, more comprehensive research with a greater variety of couples to gain a better understanding of ways to improve the BTO scheme's efficacy and appeal as a housing and pro-natalist policy.