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Singapore govt dating app uses Gale-Shapley stable marriage algorithm

466 points · 499 comments · rzk

  1. janalsncm · · focus · HN ↗
    In principle this can be a lot better than regular dating apps.

    Tinder doesn’t know if they were successful or not. They just know you stopped opening the app. In fact they are incentivized not to make matches that lead to marriage, because then you will stop paying.

    The government knows whether you got married and stayed married, and given the social cost of divorce, they are pretty incentivized to keep people married.

    1. derangedHorse · · focus · HN ↗
      > given the social cost of divorce

      I think they're more concerned about their fertility rate and labor force. A 0.87 total fertility rate for 2025 [1] is pretty bad.

      [1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.abc.net.au&#x2F;news&#x2F;2026-03-12&#x2F;singapore-low-fertility-rate-existential-challenge&#x2F;106397470" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.abc.net.au&#x2F;news&#x2F;2026-03-12&#x2F;singapore-low-fertili...

      1. kulahan · · focus · HN ↗
        If they&#x27;re concerned about fertility rate and labor force only, then they haven&#x27;t put even a modicum of thought into this, as nuclear families have significantly better outcomes than single parents. It affects everything from employment outcomes to criminal rates and more.

        So, I think I&#x27;d need to see some evidence they&#x27;re that stupid, or this is kind of an insane claim. Like, what are you basing the idea on that they just don&#x27;t give a shit if the children they bring into the world are even useful citizens?

        1. vuurmot · · focus · HN ↗
          This is an insane leap of logic
          1. kulahan · · focus · HN ↗
            Almost as insane as assuming a government only coldly cares about bodies and not citizens.
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