SOCIAL SUPPORT OF FOREIGN WIVES FROM LOW-INCOME BINATIONAL FAMILIES IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The proportion of binational marriages in Singapore has stayed between 36% to 41% for the past 10 years (National Population and Talent Division, 2016). The challenges that foreign wives face include language and communication barriers, economic dependency and acculturation stress. In the face of these challenges, social support acts as a buffer that helps foreign wives cope better with their new environment and roles. Previous quantitative studies have found that the main sources of support that foreign wives turn to for assistance are their husband, in-laws, friends, natal family and religious community. However, there seems to be a gap in research that seeks to understand the specific and contextualized data in which social support is sought. By having a better understanding of the context in which foreign wives seek social support, it would help social workers modify interventions to improve the support network and resources available to the foreign wives. Thus, using a semi-structured interview guide approach with nine foreign wives, this qualitative exploratory study examines the social support seeking process of foreign wives in Singapore. Specifically, the context in which foreign wives seek support, who foreign wives seek support from and why. The results from this study largely provide greater support for existing quantitative findings on the sources of social support of foreign wives. In addition, the results explored the context in which they sought support from their parent-in-laws, religious community, co-ethnic peers and schools. In addition, study findings have also explored the reasons behind the wife’s lack of utilization of community and formal support. In light of the study’s limitations, these findings contribute to the preliminary understanding of the context in which foreign wives seek social support in Singapore and the reason why they approach some sources more than others. The results emphasized the need for social service agencies to outreach to schools and religious communities, provide more opportunities for foreign wives to establish connections with the local community and to provide subsidized courses for foreign wives to acquire basic English listening, speaking and reading.