Abstract
The Singapore family is strong and in a healthy state but faces potential tensions between work-family balances and societal pressures. Most Singaporeans still emphasize strong family ties and cherish family values, desiring to be parents and have more children. However the gap between reality and ideals persists. Competing priorities and responsibilities between motherhood, fatherhood and jobs pose tough challenges for parents to ensure that family commitments remain as the main anchor. My study on contemporary Singaporean couples with young children indicated that when confronted with how to value dual careers, children, and marital relationships within a changing social structure, a new model of parenthood and couple relationship is being demonstrated by most of them, even though they expressed traditional gender ideals.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Chew, I., & Liao, Z. (1999). Family structures on income and career satisfaction of managers in Singapore. The Journal of Management Development, 18, 464–476.
Cowdery, R., & Knudson-Martin, C. (2005). The construction of motherhood: Tasks, relational connection, and gender equality. Family Relations, 54, 335–345.
Deutsch, F. M. (2007). Undoing gender. Gender and Society, 21, 106–127.
Hook, J. L. (2006). Care in context: Men’s unpaid work in 20 countries: 1965–2003. American Sociological Review, 71, 639–660.
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. (2013). Working mother’s child relief. Retrieved March 31, 2013, from http://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/page04.aspx?id=220#How_much_you_can_claim
Kagitcibasi, C. (2007). Family, self, and human development across cultures. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Knudson-Martin, C. (2009). Capturing the lived experience of couples. In C. Knudson-Martin & A. R. Mahoney (Eds.), Couples, gender, and power: Creating change in intimate relationships (pp. 31–40). New York: Springer.
Knudson-Martin, C., & Mahoney, A. (1996). Gender dilemma and myth in the construction of marital bargains: Issue for marital therapy. Family Process, 35, 137–153.
Koh, M (2012). Parent pays nearly s$6,000 a month in tuition fees. Retrieved August 12, 2012, from http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singaporescene/things-consider-sending-child-tuition-classes-102823408.html
Lee, K.Y. (2012). “Enormous” problems if Singaporeans don’t procreate. Retrieved August 11, 2012, from www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1219552/1/.html
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. (2009). Fatherhood public perception survey. Retrieved October 6, 2012, from www.nfc.org.sg/ResearchPublication/KeySurveyFindings.pdf
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. (2011a). Baby Bonus: Singapore, a great place for families. Retrieved October 14, 2011, from http://www.babybonus.gov.sg/bbss/html/index.html
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. (2011b). Labor force participation rate: Married females. Retrieved June 30, 2012, from http://app1.mcys.gov.sg/ResearchRoom/ResearchStatistics/LabourForce ParticipationRateMarriedFemales.aspx
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. (2011c). Policies: Women (Celebrating women). Retrieved October 13, 2011, from http://app1.mcys.gov.sg/Policies/WomenCelebratingWomen.aspx
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. (2011d). Pro-family leave schemes: Enhanced Government-Paid Maternity Leave (GPML) Scheme. Retrieved October 24, 2011, from http://fcd.ecitizen.gov.sg/ProFamilyLeaveScheme/GovernmentPaidMaternityLeave/
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. (2011e). Pro-family leave schemes: Government-paid childcare leave scheme. Retrieved October 24, 2011, from http://fcd.ecitizen.gov.sg/ProFamilyLeaveScheme/GovernmentPaidChildcareLeave
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. (2011f). Statistics on child care. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from http://www.childcarelink.gov.sg/ccls/uploads/Statistics_on_child_care
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. (2011g). Women and the economy: Gender wage gap. Retrieved October 28, 2011, from http://app1.mcys.gov.sg/ResearchRoom/ResearchStatistics/GenderWageGap
Ministry of Manpower. (2011a). Manpower Research and Statistics Department. Retrieved October 27, 2011, from http://www.mom.gov.sg/aboutus/divisions-statutory-boards/Pages/manpower-research-statistics-department.aspx
Ministry of Manpower. (2011b). Singaporeans in the workforce. Retrieved October 15, 2011 from http://www.mom.gov.sg/Publications/mrsd_singaporeans_in_the_workforce
National Family Council. (2009). Business leaders need to make time for family. Singapore: National Family Council.
National Family Council. (2010). State of the family report 2010. Singapore: National Family Council.
National Family Council. (2011). State of the family report 2011. Singapore: National Family Council.
National Youth Council. (2010). The state of youth in Singapore. Retrieved October 6, 2012, from www.resourceportal.nyc.sg/nycp/nycp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=static_resources
Ng, J. (2012, August 5). What works for working mums. The Sunday Times, pp. 38–39.
Nieuwenhuis, R., Need, A., & van der Kolk, H. (2012). Institutional and demographic explanations of women’s employment in 18 OECD countries, 1975–1999. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 74, 616–630.
Ong, H., & Tai, J. (2012, August 3). Get married and start family early. The Straits Times, p. A6.
Oyserman, D., Coon, H., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2002). Rethinking individualism and collectivism: Evaluation of theoretical assumptions and meta-analyses. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 3–72.
Quek, K. (2009). We-consciousness: Creating equality in collectivist culture. In C. Knudson-Martin & A. R. Mahoney (Eds.), Couple, gender, and power: Creating change in intimate relationships (pp. 193–214). New York: Springer.
Quek, K., & Knudson-Martin, C. (2006). A push towards equality: Processes among dual-income couples in a collectivist culture. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 68, 56–69.
Quek, K., & Knudson-Martin, C. (2008). Reshaping marital power: How dual career newlywed couples create equality in Singapore. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 25, 513–534.
Quek, K., Knudson-Martin, C., Rue, D., & Alabiso, C. (2010). Relational harmony: A new model of collectivism and gender equality among Asian American couples. Journal of Family Issues (Special Edition on Asian American Families), 31, 358–380.
Quek, K., Knudson-Martin, C., Orpen, S., & Victor, J. (2011). Gender equality during transition to parenthood: Longitudinal study of dual-career Singaporean couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 28(7), 943–962. doi:10.1177/0265407510397989.
Risman, B. J. (2009). From doing to undoing: Gender as we know it. Gender and Society, 23, 81–84.
Shows, C., & Gerstel, N. (2009). Fathering, class and gender: A comparison of physicians and emergency medical technicians. Gender & Society, 23, 161–187.
Singapore Department of Statistics. (2011a). Census of population 2010. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/popn/c2010sr2/t61-68.pdf
Singapore Department of Statistics. (2011b). Household size and structure. Retrieved October 15, 2011, from http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/popn/c2010sr2/findings.pdf
Singapore Department of Statistics. (2011c). Population size and growth. Retrieved October 14, 2011, from http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/latestdata.html
Stone, P. (2008). Opting out: Why women really quit careers and head home. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Tai, J., & Toh, K. (2012, August 6). Preschools feel crunch as void decks shrink. The Straits Times, p. B1.
Viers, D., & Prouty, A. (2002). We’ve come a long way? An overview of research of dual career couples’ stressors and strengths. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 13(2/3), 169–190.
Zimmerman, T. S., Haddock, S. A., Ziemba, S. J., & Rust, A. (2001). Family organizational labor: Who is calling the plays? In T. S. Zimmerman (Ed.), Balancing family and work: Special considerations in feminist therapy (pp. 65–90). New York: Haworth Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Quek, K.MT. (2014). The Evolving Challenges of Modern-Day Parenthood in Singapore. In: Selin, H. (eds) Parenting Across Cultures. Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7503-9_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7503-9_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-7502-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-7503-9
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)