Family Futures

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] 63

dvancing

ocial

ntegration

and

ntergenerational

olidarity

to self-centric. Seen from this perspective, people choose

to support their dependent parents, not because they are

part of the latter’s retirement planning or they are morally

or legally obliged to repay a debt they owe their parents

for having raised them, but because they are motivated by

love for their parents. By the same token, people choose

to have children because they desire to have someone to

whom they can give love. This is a child-centric orienta-

tion which sees raising children in expressive, rather than

instrumental terms.

If love is indeed a more reliable basis for ensuring that

parents in need are supported, then there are good justi-

fications to find out the extent to which Singaporeans

are driven more by love than by obligation. Tan’s 2011

survey on ‘social orientations’ in Singapore

indicates that

56 per cent of respondents select ‘love for one’s parents’

as a reason for ‘providing financial support to parents in

old age’, compared with 17 per cent who see intergenera-

tional transfers as a form of transaction (‘repayment for

raising one from young’), and another 17 per cent who view

support for dependent parents as an obligation or social

expectation. Correspondingly, 54 per cent of the sample

view raising children as about ‘giving love’, compared with

25 per cent who consider it as a part of retirement plan-

ning and another 21 per cent who see it in terms of meeting

social expectations.

There is also a rather clear-cut, positive correlation between

class and the basis of intergenerational transfers. Higher

income people (68 per cent) are more likely than those in

the lower income categories (45 per cent) to see ‘love for

one’s parents’ as a basis for providing financial support to

dependent parents. Somewhat similarly, while 75 per cent of

high-income people consider ‘love for children’ as the main

motivation for raising children, the corresponding figure for

low-income people is 35 per cent.

As Singapore becomes more of a middle-class society, one

important implication from the above observations is that

‘love’ as a family value will overtake filial piety to predomi-

nate in the future. Moreover, because the social obligation

associated with filial piety is not a reliable basis for intergen-

erational transfers, love should be more emphasized in public

campaigns and efforts to strengthen family bonding and inter-

generational solidarity.

Reasons for providing financial support to aged parents (per cent)

Reasons for raising children (per cent)

Source: National University of Singapore, based on Tan’s 2011 survey on ‘social orientations’ in Singapore

Income

Reason

Overall sample $1,999 or lower

$2,000-4,999 $5,000-7,999 $8,000 or higher

Love for one’s parents

A repayment for raising one from young

It is expected of children to support their

parents financially

Income

Reason

Overall sample $1,999 or lower

$2,000-4,999 $5,000-7,999 $8,000 or higher

To have someone we could give love to

To have someone to take care of us in old age

It is expected of people to have and

raise children

Fostering generational interdependence

Co-residence with or living close to parents and adult children

are most commonly perceived to facilitate the care of aged

parents. However, these forms of living arrangements should

be more accurately regarded as fostering generational

interdependence because the middle generation often benefits

from the availability of grandparents at home or in close

proximity, serving as caregivers of the grandchildren in dual-

income families.

Grandparents are most preferred by mothers and are the most

likely caregivers of the young after mothers. About one-third of

families with children of 12 years old or below have grandparents

as caregivers in Singapore.

Such experiences of care by

grandparents in childhood affect the feeling of closeness between

the grandchildren and grandparents in later life. Earlier experiences

of caring for the grandchildren may in turn give justification for older

people to receive reciprocal care from the younger generations in

time, when they become frail.