Spike in number of singles here

Spike in number of singles here
By Mustafa Shafawi | Posted: 12 January 2011 1806 hrs

SINGAPORE: The proportion of singles among younger age groups in Singapore had risen in the last 10 years.

The Department of Statistics (DOS) said among Singapore citizens aged 30-34 years old, the proportion of singles rose a significant 10 points to 43 per cent for males, and nine points to 31 per cent for females.

In the first of a series of statistical releases by the 2010 Census of Population, the department said singlehood was most common among males who don't have secondary qualifications and graduate females.

At age 40-44 years, 24 per cent of citizen males with below secondary qualifications were single in 2010, compared to 13 per cent of university graduates.

For citizen females, 23 per cent of graduates aged 40-44 years old were single in 2010, compared to 11 per cent among females with below secondary qualifications.

Singaporeans are also holding back starting a family, as reflected in the increase in the proportion who were childless.

Among resident females between 30 and 39 years of age, the proportion had gone up to 20 per cent in 2010 from 14 per cent in 2000.

Among those aged 40-49 years, the proportion had gone up to 9.3 per cent from 6.4 per cent.

There was also an increasing trend of one-child families.

Among resident ever-married females aged 40-49 years who were likely to have completed child-bearing, the proportion with one child increased from 15 per cent in 2000 to 19 per cent in 2010.

Nonetheless, DOS said families with two children continued to be the norm.

The proportion of resident ever-married females aged 40-49 years who had given birth to two children was 42 per cent in 2010, unchanged from 2000.

With more remaining childless or having one child, the DOS said the average number of children born to resident females aged 40-49 years had declined to 2.02 in 2010, as compared to 2.21 in 2000.

Higher educated females had fewer children compared to their lower educated counterparts.

University graduates had the fewest children by the end of their child-bearing years, with an average of 1.74 children among resident ever-married graduates aged 40-49 years in 2010.

In contrast, resident ever-married females with below secondary qualification had an average of 2.21 children by the age of 40-49 years.

The statistics also showed that the resident population is better educated.

In 2010, some 49 per cent of the non-student residents aged 15 years and over had at least post-secondary qualifications, up from 33 per cent in 2000.

The share of university graduates also increased significantly from 12 per cent in 2000 to 23 per cent in 2010.

And the majority of the younger resident population had attained at least post-secondary qualifications.

In 2010, about eight in 10 residents aged 25-34 years had at least post-secondary qualifications.

The proportion of university graduates among residents aged 25-34 years rose from 24 per cent in 2000 to 47 per cent in 2010.

Literacy had also improved.

In 2010, 96 per cent of residents aged 15 years and over were literate, up from 93 per cent in 2000.

Among literate residents aged 15 years and over, 80 per cent were literate in English in 2010, up from 71 per cent in 2000. Literacy in two or more languages also rose from 56 per cent in 2000 to 71 per cent in 2010.

English was the language used more frequently in the home, especially among the younger age groups.

Among Singapore residents aged 5-14 years, English was the home language for 52 per cent of the Chinese and 50 per cent of the Indians.

English was also the home language for 26 per cent of Malays aged 5-14 years, up from 9.4 per cent in 2000.

Buddhists and Taoists accounted for 33 per cent and 11 per cent of the resident population aged 15 years and over in 2010, as compared to 43 per cent and 8.5 per cent in 2000.

The proportion of Christians increased from 15 per cent in 2000 to 18 per cent in 2010.

The proportions of Muslims and Hindus were relatively stable at 15 per cent and 5.1 per cent.

-CNA/wk

- wong chee tat :)