PUBLIC HOUSING AND FAMILY COHESION IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

In the light of globalisation and ageing phenomenon, this dissertation examines family cohesiveness of non co-resident married children and their parents in Singapore. Family cohesion is an important element in today's ageing society and forms the foundation to achieving social cohesion for the nation. With household size getting nuclear and families yearning for privacy and independence, the elderly in Singapore faces the threat of inadequate familial support from their married children. In view of these, personal interviews employing questionnaire were carried out among HDB residents to investigate the strength of kinship ties between parents and married children, particularly those not living with their parents. By analysing these married children's perceptions on frequency of visits, on ability to count on their parents in different scenarios, about relations with their parents as well as satisfaction of family ties, it can be concluded that the extent of family ties is highly dependent on the geographical proximity and frequency of visits. Some of the common inter-generational activity is to celebrate special occasion, sharing of meals and family meetings. The findings in this study confirmed the usefulness of the various housing schemes adopted by HDB to promote family bonding among extended family members. To provide further confirmation of the results obtained, more in-depth studies can be made to explore the reasons for visits made by married children.