January 18, 2021

A study by Professor Jean Yeung (NUS Sociology and Centre for Family and Population Research) and Shuya Lu (NUS PhD student) revealed that families with non-Singaporean wives and Singaporean husbands face the most socioeconomic challenges as compared to other households in Singapore.  “New study sheds light on cross-national families in S’pore”, in The Straits Times explains the research findings.

Funded by the Ministry of Education, this examination of the impact of cross-national families (in which either the husband or wife is non-Singaporean) on young children’s development is a part of Prof Yeung’s larger project,  the “Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study” (SG LEADS).  The study revealed that families with a wife born overseas and husband born locally have the lowest per capita family income, highest level of conflict, largest age gap between the couple, and most traditional gender ideologies. These results were derived from a series of 3,121 interviews conducted in 2018 and 2019 on mothers of children under seven. Of this sample size, 18 percent of the interviewed mothers were non-Singaporean and married to their Singaporean husband.

Prof Yeung suggests that the high level of conflict in these families may result from the different upbringing and background of the parents as well as financial instability. Recognising the “vulnerability of migrant spouses”, especially non-Singaporean wives, Prof Yeung highlights the need to support them in order to reduce instability and provide a more favourable home environment for their children.

Read the article here.