Family Futures

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] 61

Bonding of the generations: promoting family

values and intergenerational solidarity in Singapore

Leng Leng Thang and Ern Ser Tan, Associate Professors, National University of Singapore

dvancing

ocial

ntegration

and

ntergenerational

olidarity

t is generally agreed that family ties remain very

important to Singaporeans. Research has shown

a consistently high level of agreement among

Singaporeans that they have a close-knit family, and

a survey conducted by the National Family Council in

2010 showed that 91 per cent of Singaporeans regard

the family as most important in their life. These positive

responses ascertain the state policy’s emphasis on the

family as the basic building block of society, and the

first line of care and support for its members. Strong

family values and intergenerational relations are invari-

ably significant in contributing to individual and societal

resilience and well-being.

However, contemporary world trends in demographic and

social changes have impacted national family trends in

Singapore. The rapid pace of ageing; a persistently low birth

rate as a result of delayed marriages and a rise in single-

hood; and increases in divorces and distressed families

have combined to place strain on the capability of fami-

lies to provide intergenerational support. According to the

Survey on Social Attitudes of Singaporeans conducted by

the then Ministry of Community Development, Youth and

Sports (since renamed the Ministry of Social and Family

Development), the number of Singaporeans who agreed that

they have a close-knit family dropped by about 10 per cent,

from 97 per cent in 2001 to 89 per cent in 2009; and the

number who agreed that they would give money to family

members in financial need fell from 99 per cent to 90 per

cent. Despite the sustained strong emphasis on the family,

such current trends suggest that more efforts are necessary

to meet the challenges facing families in the future.

Policies to promote strong families and intergenera-

tional cohesion are especially emphasized in Singapore,

as reflected in the 1999 Report of the Inter-Ministerial

Committee Workgroup on cohesion and conflict in an

ageing society. The policy recommendations centre on

suggestions to promote extended family ties and reciproc-

ity including, among others, that “the teaching of family

values in school textbooks should also include illustrations

of grandparents as an integral part of the family structure,”

that family-oriented concessions based on the extended

family concept should be given at government-controlled

recreational facilities, and that additional incentives should

be granted to public housing applicants who choose to stay

in close proximity to their grandparents as well as their

parents. In the final point of the report, under ‘promot-

ing extended family ties’, the family’s role in the provision

of care for older members is further highlighted. Here,

the report reiterates that the measures will not “merely

enhance intergenerational interaction or lessen intergen-

erational conflict” but “will also help to reinforce the role

of the family in supporting senior citizens and expand the

resource base of the family to do so.” This “will help fami-

It is common for extended families to get together for birthday celebrations

Mr Diez from Spain with his wife Georgina (Singaporean Chinese) and

two children: cross-cultural families are on the rise in Singapore

Image: Pang Kit Ong

Image: Julio Diez Gomez