STATE OF THE FAMILY IN SINGAPORE, 2003 - Ministry of Social ...

State of Families in SingaporeFAMILIES STRUCTURE AND TIESStructure of Report1. Introduction2. Family Size and Structures− Average Household Size− Household Structure3. Attitudes On Family− Desire for Marriage and Children− Acceptability of Divorce and Out of Wedlock Births− Financial Support in the Family− Emotional Support in the Family4. Family Ties− Attitudes on Family Ties− Level of Satisfaction in Family Life− Physical Living Arrangements− Social Living Arrangements− Visiting Patterns− Main Financial Contributor to Parents of Younger Married Respondents5. Conclusion1Chapter 1: Family Structure and Ties

State of Families in SingaporeFAMILY STRUCTURE AND TIES1. INTRODUCTION1.1 This chapter gives an overview of the wellbeing of families inSingapore through studying key trends relating to family size and structures,attitudes towards family, and quality of family ties.2. FAMILY SIZE AND STRUCTURESAverage Household Size (Table 1.1)2.1 Household size 1 in Singapore showed a declining trend, decreasingfrom an average of 5 persons in 1980 to 4 persons in 2000 2 . The proportion oflarge households with 6 or more members declined from 21percent in 1990 to12 percent in 2000, while households with 2-3 persons increased from 29percent to 36 percent 3 . One-person households increased from 5 percent in1990 to 8 percent in 2000 4 . All ethnic groups saw a decline in the averagehousehold size.Household Structure (Tables 1.2 – 1.6)2.2 One-family nuclear 5 households remained the dominant householdstructure at 82 percent of all households in 2000, although it was a slightdecrease of 3 percent from 1990. Households with no family nucleus 6 rosefrom 8 percent in 1980 to 12 percent in 2000. The increase was especiallysteep from 1990-2000, in line with the rise in one-person households. 54percent of the households with no family nucleus were mainly made up ofsingles and 86 percent of the heads of households with no family nucleuswere over 35 years old. In addition, 73 percent possessed secondary levelqualifications and below. The proportion of multi-family nuclei 7 householdsdeclined from 11 percent to 6 percent between 1980 and 2000, with thesharpest decline over 1980-1990, corresponding with the trend towardssmaller households.1 Household size refers to the total number of members in the private household, includingmaids.2 Source: Census of Population 2000, Households and Housing, Department of Statistics3 Source: Census of Population 2000, Households and Housing, DOS4 Source: Census of Population 2000, Households and Housing, DOS5 This refers to a household formed by one of the following, regardless of the number ofgenerations: (a) a married couple, with or without unmarried child(ren) and/or aparent/grandparent; (b) a family consisting of immediate related members, without presenceof a married couple, e.g. one parent only with unmarried child(ren).6 This refers to a household formed by a person living alone or living with others but whichdoes not constitute any family nucleus.7 This refers to a household formed by more than one family nucleus.2Chapter 1: Family Structure and Ties

State of Families in Singapore2.3 Among the ethnic groups, the Malays had the highest proportion ofhouseholds with one family nucleus and multi-family nuclei (94 percent), andthe lowest with no family nucleus. This suggests that the Malays tend to havea relatively higher family orientation.3. ATTITUDES ON FAMILYDesire for Marriage and Children (Table 1.7)3.1 The Survey on Social Attitudes of Singaporeans (SAS) showed thatSingaporeans generally have a high family orientation, with 82 percentagreeing that it is better to get married than to remain single and 90 percentagreeing that married couples should have children in 2003. There were nosignificant differences in the SAS 2001 – 2003 results.Acceptability of Divorce and Out of Wedlock Births(Tables 1.8 – 1.12)3.2 The majority of Singaporeans found divorce and out of wedlock birthsunacceptable. Having children out of wedlock (SAS 2003: 76 percent) andproceeding with divorce where couples had children were not acceptable tothe majority (SAS 2003: 75 percent).3.3 More Malays found divorce and having children out of wedlockunacceptable compared to the Chinese and Indians.3.4 When we compare across age groups, education and marital status,younger, better educated and single Singaporeans tended to be more liberalthan older, less educated and married persons. However, it should behighlighted that attitudes need not necessarily translate into behaviour.Financial Support in the Family (Table 1.13)3.5 A large majority of Singaporeans, regardless of age, felt that they hadthe duty to give financial support to their family members (SAS 2003: 99percent).Emotional Support in the Family (Table 1.14)3.6 Almost all Singaporeans (99 percent) agreed that children shouldregularly spend time with their elderly parents and that parents shouldregularly communicate with their young children even when they were busy.This indicates that Singaporeans generally had strong views on parentalresponsibility and filial piety, and understood that these included providingemotional support.3Chapter 1: Family Structure and Ties

State of Families in Singapore4. FAMILY TIESAttitudes on Family Ties (Tables 1.15 and 1.16)4.1 Results from SAS (2001 – 2003) showed that a large majority (93percent in SAS2003, down from 97 percent in SAS2001 and SAS2002) ofSingaporeans agreed that they had a close-knit family. However, the level ofagreement dropped slightly when it came to whether family members sharedpersonal problems with one another, although agreement was still high at 86percent in 2003. Nonetheless, with respect to family members in need, thecommitment to providing emotional and financial support was strong, as seenin section 3.4.2 The singles were slightly less likely than married persons to agree thatthey had a close-knit family. The singles were also less likely than the marriedto talk about their problems to their family members, and hear from theirfamily members when the latter had personal problems. Although thissuggests that singles have weaker bonds within the family, the findingsindicate that ties are still healthy as the majority seek emotional support fromfamily members.Level of Satisfaction with Family Life (Table 1.17)4.3 89 percent of Singaporeans in SAS 2003 indicated that they weresatisfied with their family life. Although this was a decrease of 5 percentagepoints from 2002 (94 percent), the change is statistically not significant.Physical Living Arrangement (Tables 1.18 and 1.19)4.4 The physical living arrangements (i.e. physical location of residences)of parents and their married children could be a significant predictor of familyties, as physical proximity could greatly facilitate the strengthening of tiesbetween them. It is also a good indicator of the quality of ties, since therewould be a stronger preference to stay near family members when ties werestrong.4.5 With regard to the actual and ideal living arrangements of parents (visà-vistheir married children) and married children (vis-à-vis their parents), aHDB survey showed that both groups shared similar preferences on livingarrangements, desiring to live close to each other. More than 76 percent ofparents and married children desired to live close to their married children andparents respectively, rather than in a nearby estate or elsewhere. Thisindicates that family ties between parents and their children remain strongeven after the children marry.4Chapter 1: Family Structure and Ties

State of Families in Singapore4.6 However, the majority of parents and married children were unable tolive as close to one another as they would desire. In fact, the greatestdiscrepancy between ideal and actual physical living arrangements was in thearrangement of ‘living elsewhere’. While 34 percent of parents and 45percent of married children lived elsewhere from their married children andparents respectively, only 9 percent and 8 percent desired to do so. Thiscould be due to the limited supply of bigger flat types and new flats in themature estates the parents lived in and the married children’s preference fornewer estates. Nonetheless, the percentage who managed to stay near theirmarried children and parents was still high, with 66 percent parents and 53percent of married children living at least in a nearby estate from their marriedchildren and parents respectively.4.7 Malay and Indian parents were twice as likely as their Chinesecounterparts to stay in the same flat as the married child. This is consistentwith the higher proportion of Malay and Indian households having multi-familynuclei compared to the Chinese and “Others”. However, it should be notedthat physical living arrangements does not by itself give the full picture offamily ties as the frequency and quality of interaction is not measured.Social Living Arrangements (Table 1.20 and 1.21)4.8 Although the majority (74 percent) of the older respondents lived withtheir spouse and unmarried children, there was a strong desire to live withone of their married sons or daughters. The survey also found that moreChinese respondents preferred to stay with their married sons (22 percent)than their married daughters (4 percent). Indians were similar in this respectwith 13 percent preferring to stay with married sons as compared to 4 percentfor married daughters.4.9 It is interesting to note that a relatively high proportion of olderrespondents (13 percent) expressed that they preferred to stay alone,compared to the actual figure of 8 percent.Visiting Patterns (Table 1.22)4.10 Findings from the HDB survey showed that the majority of marriedchildren visited their parents at least weekly and over 90 percent visited atleast monthly 8 . This indicates that family ties between parents and theirmarried children generally remain strong even in the context of the one familynucleus being the dominant family structure.8 The physical proximity of residences does have a bearing on the frequency of visits. Forexample, 93 percent of parents whose married children lived next door visited them dailycompared to 9.3 percent whose married children lived elsewhere. However, even parentswhose married children lived elsewhere tended to be visited by them daily or at least once aweek (59.4 percent). Only 12.5 percent reported their children as visiting them less than oncea month or never. (Table 1.14, pg 27, Social Aspects of Public Housing in Singapore: KinshipTies and Neighbourly Relations, March 2000, Housing and Development Board).5Chapter 1: Family Structure and Ties

State of Families in SingaporeMain Financial Contributor to Parents of Younger Married Respondents(Table 1.23)4.11 According to the Census, 75 percent of the older respondents 9 namedtheir children as their main source of financial support. This is consistent withthe SAS surveys, where 98 percent of Singaporeans agreed that childrenshould provide financial support to their elderly parents.5. CONCLUSION5.1 Overall, the wellbeing of family structure and ties in Singapore isgenerally positive. This is evident from the dominance of households with afamily nucleus, Singaporeans’ pro-family attitudes and disapproval of divorceand having children out of wedlock, and Singaporeans’ strong consensus thatthe family is the buttress of emotional and financial support. MostSingaporeans also had a positive view of their close-knit families and weresatisfied with their family life. The analysis also showed that ties betweenparents and their married children remained strong, even for those who livedapart, as there was generally a high frequency of visits and contact, throughgrandparents assisting in caring for grandchildren. Children also continued tosupport their parents financially.9 Older Respondents refer to respondents who are aged 65 years old and above.6Chapter 1: Family Structure and Ties