Ready to marry, but only if they can find their own homes

Ready to marry, but only if they can find their own homes

Tuesday • May 6, 2008

MORE Singaporeans are ready to say "I do". But the package should include a nest of their own; otherwise, wedding bells can wait for a good number of them.

According to a Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) survey, while nine in 10 singles (89 per cent) planning to get hitched would prefer to live in their own homes after marriage, almost a third indicated "they would postpone their wedding if they were unable to have a place of their own".

The finding stood out as a key road block to the generally positive sentiments toward marriage in Singapore in the second such study on marriage and parenthood here.

Preferred living arrangements were not covered in the first survey in 2004.

Overall, some 85 per cent of singles desire to get hitched, compared to just 74 per cent in 2004.

Other than the issue of housing — only 14 per cent would even consider rental housing as an alternative — the pursuit of love in Singapore is also confounded by the desire to concentrate on career and studies and especially by the inability to find a suitable partner. These were the same top two factors cited in 2004.

Singapore's population planners may take hope, though, that only 2 per cent said they did not intend to marry at all, compared to 5 per cent four years ago.

"Single respondents appear to be more active in searching for a marriage partner now as the percentage of those who were ambivalent about marriage decreased from 21 per cent in 2004 to 13 per cent last year," said the MCYS.

Having children was cited as the main reason for taking a walk down the aisle, according to the 3,015 single and 3,006 married residents between the ages of 15 and 44 who responded to the survey.

Eight out of 10 married people wanted to have two to three children, compared to six in 10 in the previous survey.

Despite these positive signals for the stork, Associate Professor Paulin Straughan of the National University of Singapore is sceptical that a big "conceptual leap" has been made.

"Family, marriage and parenthood have always been valued by Singaporeans ... Do I expect these positive perceptions of many to translate into an increase in total fertility rate and decrease the marrying age? I don't think so," she said.

The sociologist said more work is needed to study why Singaporeans are not putting their ideals about marriage and children into practice.

According to the MCYS survey, financial security ranked highest among the factors in deciding on the number of children they would like to have; mutual spousal agreement came in second.

Most of the women surveyed said they wanted to hold down a job and raise a family at the same time – 80 per cent of single and 60 per cent of married respondents.

However, there was a slight increase in the number of married women, to 34 percent, who said that it was "ideal to leave the workforce when they had children or when their children were still young" – one reason being the preference to raise the kids themselves, said the ministry.

For Dr Straughan, the problem many women have in finding an equilibrium between career and family will be a key factor in determining marriage and parenthood trends.

However, as far as the Government's enhanced pro-family package goes, especially the Baby Bonus and extended Paid Maternity Leave schemes, most respondents (83 per cent) said it has created a more conducive environment for couples to start and raise a family.

Payouts in the Baby Bonus Scheme, which was first introduced in April 2001, was enhanced in August 2004, while maternity leave was extended from 8 to 12 weeks from Oct 2004. – WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TAN HUI LENG

Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.

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