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SINGAPORE: Last month, the Prime Minister's Office released the Singapore Annual Population Brief.
The report showed that the proportion of single people in most age groups had increased, with the largest increase occurring among Singaporeans aged 25 to 29.
Many wondered whether the government's social development programs had been effective. Some asked if they were a waste of time and money and should be abandoned.
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ENCOURAGING MARRIAGES
The government created the Social Development Unit (SDU) in January 1984 to encourage greater social interaction and marriage among single graduates, following the 1980 population census which revealed a growing trend towards speed. among women graduates.
At the time, policymakers were concerned about the implications for Singapore's future talent pool if more educated women remained single.
The SDU has been designed to counter this trend by offering graduated singles the opportunity to meet and interact at dinners, outings and other events while reducing the life partner's search costs.
Since 1984, the SDU has undergone several changes, including hosting graduates and non-graduates under the name of social development network.
Although some of its functions have evolved over the years, its primary purpose remains to foster interactions and relationships between singles in order to improve the marriage and birth rate of the nation.
Unmarried rates – measured by the proportion of single people aged 25 to 29 – have changed between 1980 and 2017. Single rates are presented separately for men and women. (Source: Singapore Department of Statistics, Graph: Author provided)
Did SDU MISS HIS BRAND?
Despite the introduction of the SDU in 1984, the trend towards uniqueness seems to be increasing, which leads some to question the effectiveness of the SDU and some calling this arrangement a failure.
But it would not be correct to conclude that the SDU has been ineffective because of the growing trend towards celibacy.
This increase may be due to other factors, such as a higher proportion of women in the labor market, which has resulted in more time spent by women at work and less time spent dating activities.
Indeed, the data show that women's participation in the labor market has increased. While the labor force participation rate of women in 1980 was only 44.3%, this figure had risen to 60.4% in 2016.
To assess whether the SDU had been effective, we also needed to know the counterfactual scenario – that is, what would have been the Singapore Singles rates in the years following 1984, if there had been no SDU .
Although the percentage of single women aged 25 to 29 has increased from 40% in 1984 to 64% in 2017, it is unclear how this trend has changed if the SDU had been absent.
A woman walks through the central business district of Raffles Place. (Photo file)
Despite this, it is still possible to estimate the effectiveness of SDU.
A potentially inexpensive method would be to compare the actual evolution of single rates between two groups of women – single female citizens who have completed secondary school and are eligible for activities organized by the SDU (or an equivalent social development section). and single citizens. who had not completed high school and who were not eligible – before and after 1984.
If SDU programs had a noticeable effect, we would see the rates of celibacy between these two groups plausibly change in the same way in the years before 1984, and then deviate significantly after 1984.
However, such a study would require access to birth records and level of education data at the individual level, which are currently only available for some ministries.
STIGMA AGAINST CORRESPONDENCE ACTIVITIES THE KEY
As the discussion above suggests, further empirical research is needed before decisive determinations can be made as to whether the Government's social development programs have been effective.
However, I personally believe that social development programs have not been as ineffective as most pessimists think.
Indeed, the work done by the current Social Development Network (SDN) and its approved dating agencies – which consists of matching singles to potential partners according to their profiles and preferences, allowing them to get online coordinating dates and offering courses and courses. information allowing single people to acquire the relational skills needed to tie a partner – have huge potential for fostering romantic relationships.
These allow singles to have access to potential partners whom they are unlikely to meet during their normal lives and to acquire the basic skills necessary to maintain such relationships.
Even though the process seemed ingenious, it's worth keeping in mind that it was tinder Singapore before the era of dating apps and artificial intelligence.
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Since then, the SDN is also accrediting dating agencies by relying on the private sector to solve this public problem.
Although we do not have data on the number of children or couples that have been harnessed because of the NDS, SDN accredited dating agencies reported that more men were participating in these events.
But everyone eligible for the SDN program does not use it. Part of the reason could be the social stigma involved in participation.
People are afraid of being perceived by others as "unwanted" and "unwanted" if they are to search for links. The number of singles engaged in the SDN program is inevitably reduced in this way, so the number of weddings trained as a result of the program is not as important as it could be.
On December 14th, the local meeting agency, CompleteMe, organized a mass dating event for 126 singles at the York Hotel. The event created a record in the Singapore record book for Gokon's largest gathering. (Photo: CompleteMe)
It is therefore essential to ensure that single people adhere to the idea of such activities and do not consider their participation as a social stigma. An approach in this regard is to educate the public and to advertise to change mindsets and normalize the search for a life partner, even before people reach the eligibility age of 20 years.
In this way, negative stereotypes are less likely to misinform people and they have a more positive image of what the network can bring them.
ELIMINATION OF AGE RESTRICTIONS IN ACTIVITIES
SDN can also extend its reach by not limiting its activities to certain age groups. Currently, some activities impose an age limit. One of these events on the agency's website, at the dinner date, imposed an age restriction on male participants aged 32 to 45 and women aged 22 to 35.
Although these age restrictions may be motivated by certain economic considerations and preferences, they are paradoxical because they exclude older women, who are the group most likely to actively seek a long-term partner.
It may be useful for decision-makers to undertake a rigorous study that considers behavioral science, as well as economic and social factors, to determine the best way to encourage singles, and to determine the success of our social development programs, as well as the benefits to the SDN. singles to come.
While waiting for such an exercise, it would be premature to affirm our unsuccessful social development efforts.
Kelvin Seah Kah Cheng is a lecturer in the economics department of the National University of Singapore and a research associate at the Bonn Institute of Labor Economics, Germany.
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