Who You Marry Affects Your Household Income: A Look at Different Family Types in Singapore

Ever wondered how the nationality of the person you marry would cause any significant difference in your life?

News flash: It might. 

The Straits Times recently wrote an article on an insightful study conducted by Professor Jean Yeung (founding director of the Centre for Family and Population Research at National University of Singapore (NUS)) and PhD student Shuya Lu.

This is the first large-scale study to understand transnational families in Singapore and find out how they are functioning in comparison to the others.

This study has published a few interesting insights into the differences that arise from different family types.

TL;DR: Who You Marry Affects Your Household Income: A Look at Different Family Types in Singapore

Types of Families in Singapore

Based on this study, slightly more than half of the families in Singapore consist of two parents that are born in Singapore.

About one-fifth have both parents born overseas.

And a foreign-born father and Singaporean mother making up the smallest proportion of the population (6%).

Transnational Families in Singapore

In this study, transnational families refer to those with an individual born in Singapore marrying someone who is born in another country (i.e. permanent resident or non-resident).

In Singapore, there were about 37% of citizen marriages in 2019 which involved transnational couples.

Citizen marriages refer to marriages involving at least one citizen.

And which regions do non-citizen spouses usually come from?

Here’s a breakdown of the origins of non-citizen spouses who married a Singaporean.

More than half come from Asian countries, and Europe being the second-highest region for non-Asian countries.

Monthly per Capita Income Based on Family Composition

This study showcased many interesting results, including one which showed the differences in monthly per capita income.

The study found that there is a difference in family income when it comes to transnational families.

The family income is the highest when the mother is a Singaporean, and the father is born overseas ($3,062 per capita monthly income).

For both parents born overseas, the family per capita income is $2,725.

The per capita income is slightly lower at $2,611 for both Singapore-born parents.

On the other hand, family income is the lowest when the father is a Singaporean, and the mother is born overseas ($1,709 per capita monthly income).

Besides having the lowest per capita income, the study also found the following characteristics for the combination of a Singapore-born husband and foreign-born wife:

• Husbands have the lowest academic qualifications: About one-third have secondary-level education or lower
• Largest age difference (average of 7 years as compared to 3 years in other family types)
• Highest level of family conflict

Level of Conflict Across Different Family Types

Professor Yeung also noted that there is a small but statistically significant difference when it comes to the level of conflict across different family types as well.

She observed that the highest level of family conflict comes from the Singapore-husband-foreign-wife family combination.

This could be largely due to conflicts arising from money problems, which is unsurprising given how finances are usually one of the common problems in a marriage.

In fact, State Courts Singapore has previously published findings on the top issues leading to a divorce in Singapore.

Financial difficulties ranked fifth in the list of major problems encountered by married couples in Singapore.

The study on transnational families noted that there seems to be an inverse relationship between the level of family conflict and family income.

Which meant that when family income increases, the probability of family conflict reduces.

Foreign-Born Wives: Most Vulnerable Group That Would Require Support

According to the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), studies and experiences have shown that foreign-born wives are a group that is particularly vulnerable to family violence.

This is congruent to the study results, where the results showed that women holding long-term passes are the most socio-economically disadvantaged group.

This is because they are usually highly dependent on their husbands in terms of finances, and this level of dependency can be dangerous to spousal relations.

For instance, there is a possibility of a wife staying in an abusive marriage out of fear of losing their long-term passes or children.

How Is Singapore Supporting Transnational Marriages?

Couples with a foreign spouse settling here in Singapore might experience unique challenges, such as a difference in cultural norms and lifestyle habits.

Beyond financial difficulties, such differences might cause additional friction between married couples.

To address this, it is heartening to know that the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has been working with other agencies to provide support for transnational couples.

For instance, the Transnational Family Support Centre (Project FAMILY) was started in 2014 and has been conducting different programmes and workshops to provide social support for these couples.

Some of these programmes include:

Getting Married and Having a Family in Singapore

It is interesting to note the differences that can be derived from various family types in Singapore.

These findings are important when it comes to understanding certain trends and tackling problems that might be potential issues faced by specific family types.

Regardless, marriage and having families are huge life commitments which the Government has been encouraging by providing various grants and schemes.

These incentives are in place to help Singaporeans achieve their marriage and parenthood aspirations, by providing support in these areas through different measures.