Singapore’s Changing Age Structure: Issues and Policy Implications for the Family and State

Abstract

Background. Singapore entered a demographic window of opportunity in the late 1970s and early 1980s as the baby boom cohort reached working age, and drastically lowered their fertility levels. This demographic window produced a “demographic dividend “(Bloom, Canning, and Sevilla 2003) which aided the dramatic economic development of the city State. The next twenty to thirty years will see an increase in the old age dependency ratio and a closing of this demographic window of opportunity. The task of the Government is to put in place appropriate policies to counter this imminent change in the population age structure. A high old age dependency ratio may result in a decrease in economic productivity if appropriate policies do not exist to maintain the status quo. This paper discusses the policy implications of population aging in the areas of financial security, employment, living arrangements, and health care. Singapore is one of the fastest aging populations in Asia as a result of extremely successful family planning policies instituted in the 1960s and medical advances that have increased life expectancy (Saw 1999). As such, Singapore is an excellent case study of the effects of rapid aging on State policies. Currently 7% of Singapore’s population is over the age of 65, however, by 2030 this will increase to 19% (Inter-Ministerial Committee on Aging Report 1999). Age structural transitions affect supply and demand factors within a society, differentially putting pressure on key life cycle stages and consequently policies catering to the needs of populations at