Date: Monday, July 29 (updated)

Time: 7.30pm

Venue: AWARE Centre

Speakers: AWARE’s Singles Sub-committee – Chew I-Jin, Ailin Mao, Chu Hoi Yee, Aziza Sheerin, Chang Rui Shan and Raudah Abdul Rashid

Register for this event here. 

The Singles Sub-committee of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) has been doing research on the quality of life of single Singaporeans through interviews, case study analysis and policy analysis.

The sub-committee identifies single individuals as those who have never married, are divorced, widowed or are single parents. This is indeed HDB’s definition of “singles”, indicating that their policies impact on all those falling under this definition. This segment of society forms at least 20% of the population between the ages 30 and 65, a sizeable proportion of the Singapore citizen population.

Our research finds that such persons are discriminated against in various governmental public schemes that favour heterosexual nuclear families with young children. This exclusion based on marital status penalises single individuals caring for relatives or friends who do not fall within the Government’s narrow definition of “family.” This has implications for the care of our ageing population and the care-giving capacity of Singapore “families”.

The sub-committee intends to advocate for specific policy changes that will enable single individuals to live active and fulfilling lives, as well as to care for dependents without being discriminated against. Such changes require a more appropriate understanding of “families” and care-giving” that is aligned with our everyday needs and realities. At the roundtable, the sub-committee will share preliminary research findings and a draft of our policy recommendations.