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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. boelboel · · focus · HN ↗
        It&#x27;s under 0.8 in 2026 as their birth numbers declined by 12% in Q1. Doesn&#x27;t really matter right now as they should be able to keep importing from the sinosphere for another 15-20 years.
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