June 19, 2019

On the 6^th of June, NUS CFPR (Centre for Family and Population Research) launched their new book Family and Population in Asia (Focus Publishing, 2019) at the Singapore Book Fair 2019 in Capitol Piazza.

Edited by Professor Wei Jun Jean Yeung (NUS Department of Sociology) and Associate Professor Thang Leng Leng (NUS Department of Japanese Studies), this book is a collection of 30 bilingual essays spanning a range of issues covering children, marriage, fertility, work, ageing, fatherhood, and women and gender issues.

With the global ageing trend, declining fertility and evolving attitudes towards the institution of marriage and the very essence of what constitutes a family unit, societies everywhere are undergoing unprecedented challenges and perceptional changes. Asia is no exception. By understanding these changes, we may be better equipped to deal with what is ostensibly to be the new normal.

In his foreword, Senior Minister & Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam says “The themes in this book are… salient, and the chapters offer both important insights and suggestions on possible ways forward. The book also contributes to a needed wave of inquiry and fresh thinking in the social sciences.”

These essays provide insights into these very real and relevant challenges and are based on evidential research by Singapore’s NUS CFPR associates.

Specialising in different disciplines, the authors bring their unique voice to a myriad of social situations – from the trend of one-person households in Asia, to how a woman’s marital prospects might be dictated by social mores, to the perennial question of academic pressures on today’s Asian child.

It is available at local bookstores or online here.