Family ties in S’pore are strong, many feel it is their responsibility to care for parents: Survey

The vast majority of people polled aged 15 to 64 agree that it is their responsibility to take care of their parents

SINGAPORE – Families in Singapore maintain close-knit ties and are the first line of support for most people, a new survey has shown.

People aged 15 to 64 who were polled agree that it is their responsibility to take care of their parents, while most seniors said they would turn to their family for caregiving help.

The findings were released as part of a report on key family trends by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) on July 15 at a National Family Festival appreciation lunch held at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.

The survey – the first of its kind in Singapore – aimed to understand how resilient families are. This is defined as families’ ability to adapt to challenges, bounce back from adversity and manage stressful events. About 2,000 Singaporeans aged 15 and above were polled from the last quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024.

Questions included whether respondents face challenges together as a family instead of individually, and if they feel like they can count on their family for help during difficulties. They were also asked if they are able to make sense of stressful situations and focus on their options, and whether they have the economic security to get through hard times.

This is the first time MSF has conducted a large-scale survey using the Walsh Family Resilience Questionnaire. The resilience scale has been used internationally to understand how people perceive family ties and social issues.

MSF said the study is important in quantifying the resilience of families. “A resilient family makes for better individual well-being and stronger communities. It also helps to track MSF’s efforts in strengthening relationships among family members,” a spokesperson for the ministry said.

The findings will also help MSF plan programmes and initiatives for families to overcome challenges.

Almost 86 per cent of families reported a moderate to high score for family resilience, which means they would generally be able to recover from challenges together.

Married people were more likely to have high family resilience. They were also more likely to have a close-knit family, compared with those who were single.

About 9 per cent of married respondents reported a low family resilience score, compared with 24 per cent of divorced or widowed respondents, and about 21 per cent of singles.

Singapore Management University professor of sociology Paulin Tay Straughan said this finding was not surprising, as people form families of their own when they get married. “In a marriage, your spouse usually becomes your strongest supporter, and children can also be a source of emotional support,” she said.

“Marriage is one functional way to expand your support network – besides your spouse or children, you also gain in-laws,” she added.

“If you are single, your network for family may be smaller, but I think that it’s important to note that singles may have other forms of non-kin network. For example, many of them would count their close friends as their strongest social support.”

Prof Straughan added that singles are not without support – it may just be a different type of support.

MSF said families continue to be a key pillar of support for caregiving needs, on the back of more seniors living alone in Singapore.

The MSF report said the number of elderly residents living alone more than doubled from 35,160 in 2013 to 78,135 in 2023. Despite this, more than 80 per cent of seniors in Singapore still live with their spouse or children.

The majority of the survey respondents said they would provide financial and emotional support to family members, and 81.4 per cent said they would provide regular physical support if their family members needed help in their daily lives.

The report, which will be published annually, explored other family trends such as early childhood education and marriage.

Families with young children have greater access to affordable childcare, with more infantcare and childcare places available and median fees coming down in the past decade. Pre-school enrolment rates among children aged three to four have also gone up from 75 per cent in 2013 to 90 per cent in 2023.

A lower number of marriages was recorded, with 28,310 couples tying the knot in 2023, an almost 3.7 per cent drop from the record high of 29,389 marriages in 2022. The report also said having two children continued to be the most common for Singaporean and permanent resident women who have ever been married.

Prof Straughan said: “If fewer people get married or have kids in the future and Singapore becomes a super-aged society, family support will need to be redefined.”

She added: “It forces us to think carefully moving forward, when the population profile changes and many may not have that normal family system of a spouse and children. How do we then ensure that everyone continues to have strong social support?

“We need to curate a second layer of family – a family by association. These would be your friends, people you are close to, people who care about you. We can continue to help people to grow these relationships.”

This article was originally published on The Straits Times Online News. Its inclusion on this website is solely for education purposes.