Singapore is launching a government-run online matchmaking program to address its declining birth rate.
The service, called FirstDate, is launching as a pilot program, accepting applications from single public employees aged 21 to 35 years old. The matchmaking system uses the Gale-Shapley algorithm, a Nobel Prize-winning method in economic sciences that matches people based on stability and compatibility.
The effort comes as the Asian island nation is initiating an all-hands-on-deck effort to fix its declining birth rate. At the end of 2025, Singapore’s birth rate was 0.87, lower than its 2024 annual rate of 0.97. The country’s leaders estimate that the 2025 birth rate could lead the population to decline by 50% over one generation, according to NPR.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong addressed the declining birth rate in an August speech, telling the crowd that much of the birth rate decline stems from families worrying about costs and the future ahead for any child they bring into the world. He told the crowd that the government created a focus group to discuss how the government “can support families better,” floating ideas such as childcare leave, a $10,000 “baby gift,” and reducing full-day childcare costs.
“We are aiming for more than incremental improvements or changes to individual schemes,” Wong said. “We want to make a fundamental shift in how we support families. Today, much of our support is concentrated around the birth of a child. Instead, we want to support parents more consistently throughout the journey of raising their children.”
However, Wong also added that the country has to “be realistic,” saying “our Total Fertility Rate is still likely to fall far short of replacement.” He added that they need tactics to increase population numbers, including welcoming immigrants.
The government’s matchmaking program is the latest effort to tackle the declining birth rate by increasing romantic pairings, using applicants’ interests, values, habits, and preferences to match people.
Each applicant receives one government-made match each round and has three days to say yes or no to their match. If they both accept, the program unlocks contact details, allowing the pairing to meet up. If the date does not go well, the applicant can try for another match in the next cycle.
COLLEGES CAUSED THEIR OWN DEMOGRAPHIC NIGHTMARE
Singapore has pursued matchmaking efforts in the past, launching the Social Development Unit in 1984 to address a census finding that there was an increasing number of unmarried graduate women. The country said the census revelation came alongside a finding that single Singaporean men preferred women who were less educated than themselves, while women were becoming increasingly educated.
The Social Development Unit tried to encourage young, single university graduates to mix and mingle; however, it stopped its matchmaking program in 2006.