Only 57 percent list marriage as a life goal, according to a survey published Apr 18 while the number wanting to start a family is an even lower, at 47 percent.

Regularly stated official concerns about the implications of a declining birth rate are being ignored, including a recent suggestion from Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew for educated women to give birth to three children.

The survey by the Social Development Unit, a government organised match-making operation, was commissioned to determine the effectiveness of policies aimed at promoting positive attitudes towards marriage.

However it found that recent government incentives, from a baby bonus to flexible work hours for couples to spend more "quality time" together, were having a reverse impact.

Compared to a similar survey five years ago, this latest poll of nearly 2000 people aged between 21 and 35 showed a 17 percentage point drop in the importance of children in a marriage.

Top life goals for graduates were financial security (90 percent), a successful career (87 percent) and acquiring a home (68 percent) with marriage the fourth priority ahead of further education and then starting a family.

The priorities for non-graduates were similar, although their financial targets were not as high.

SDU director Tan-Huang Shuo Mei told the Straits Times the survey highlighted a serious threat to Singapore's fertility rate, already languishing below 1.5 children per woman, well short of the 2.15 necessary for a population to replace itself.

The government fears a greying, single population and a limited local workforce will put an unhealthy strain on resources.

The favorable demographic conditions of the past "would start to turn against us in 10 years' time," Trade Minister George Yeo warned recently.

Singapore appeared to have fallen victim to its rapid rise, when a hard-work ethic turned the regional backwater into a country with one of the highest living standards in the world despite having no natural resources.

"Every day, children observe what drives mum and dad and draw their own conclusions," said MP Jennifer Lee, a member of the government's feedback unit.

The affluent city-state has been actively importing foreign talent to keep its workforce steady, with the number of non-Singaporeans swelling from 14 percent to 25 percent of the four-million population in the past decade.