Honestly, a stressful education is a deterrent to having children. This is prevalent in East Asian societies, which include Singapore.
Our TFR is currently 0.87.
By ethnic group:
View attachment 216831
Explore trends in live-births and fertility rates of residents and ever-married females, with breakdown by ethnic group and age.
www.singstat.gov.sg
If we look at just Singaporean Chinese who make up ~75% of the population, our TFR is actually only 0.70. That's even lower than South Korea.
0.7/2.1 replacement = 1/3 > Meaning, each generation shrinks by 2/3, if nothing else is done.
1/3 * 1/3 = 1/9 > Within 2 generations, the cohort size will shrink by almost 90%, if nothing else is done.
1/3 * 1/3 * 1/3 = 1/27 > Within 3 generations, the cohort size will shrink by almost 96%, if nothing else is done.
1/3 * 1/3 * 1/3* 1/3 = 1/81 > Within 4 generations, the cohort size will shrink by almost 99%, if nothing else is done.
Yeah, we do well in all these educational tests. PISA, TIMSS, etc. But what use is it if we are going to shrink 90% within 2 generations? Or basically extinct in another few more generations?
These applies not only to Singapore (we are now depending on immigration to maintain our population size), but to other East Asian societies as well.