December 9, 2020

The Straits Times article, “Divorce inflicts long-lasting toll on children: MSF study”, outlines the key findings of the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s (MSF) study,  “Inter-generational Effects of Divorce on Children in Singapore”. This investigation pioneers future research in the field of divorce-related impacts in Singapore.

The study reveals the long-term negative impacts that children of divorce have to endure, presenting statistics on their rate of university education, income percentile, and likelihood of divorce. Through interviews and data collection, it establishes that children whose parents divorced before they turned 21 suffer lasting consequences due to the lack of co-parenting.

However, Professor Jean Yeung (NUS Department of Sociology and CFPR) warns that this study does not necessarily prove that divorce directly leads to detrimental consequences for children. She elaborates that divorce could aggravate problems, such as low levels of achievement, children face, but is not the root cause of the negative effects. She states that the study can instead be used as a guide to acknowledge potential future implications for children of divorce and provide them with timely intervention. Helping children from the time their parents file for divorce is recommended to alleviate forthcoming difficulties they may face.

Read the article here.