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

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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
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