Written by Meryl Yu, AWARE Intern

“Inequality tends to compound and amplify already existing gaps,” said Dr. Vincent Chua, professor of Sociology and researcher with the NUS Centre for Family and Population Research (CFPR).

Dr. Chua was one of the academics speaking at CFRP’s latest book launch and forum on 6 June 2019. The book, Family and Population in Asia, is a compilation of 30 bilingual essays on topics extending from gender roles and marriage to social networks.

It may be easy to dismiss the prevalence of inequality by pointing towards Singapore’s narrowing GINI coefficient, said Dr. Chua. However, inequality can exist in the most benign ways, hitting the most vulnerable. His words resonated with AWARE’s mission to recognise the intersectionality of discrimination experienced by women, and address how inequality cumulates and overlaps in manifold ways.

Here are three key insights from the forum:

1.  We Have to Recognise Invisible Markers of Inequality

When we think of inequality, conventional markers like income, wealth and material assets come to mind. However, Dr. Chua argues, who and how many people you know matters too. He brought to the forefront the idea of network inequality—how social networks determine life chances, such as access to jobs, education and mental health. For example, all else being equal, just knowing a university graduate is correlated with an increase in one’s monthly earnings—by $180 per graduate.

This raises the question: Who has more connections, and who has fewer? Not surprisingly, Dr. Chua found that women, racial minorities and the poor have less access to “high-stakes” contacts.

Frequently, access to these high-value social contacts is tied to the institutions where people make such contacts. Therefore, as long as “elite” domains and universities continue to have unequal representation, the disadvantaged will continue to suffer the ramifications of network inequality, Dr. Chua explained.

The main takeaway is this: Sometimes, the manifestations of inequality may be invisible and hard to detect. Nevertheless, though they lurk beneath the surface, invisible markers of inequality can have very tangible effects on material, visible forms of inequality, warranting attention on our part.

2.  Gendered Parenting Roles Still Persist

While female participation in the workforce has undeniably increased, women still face tensions grappling with public and private expectations.

“On the one hand, women are empowered to work more and become more educated, but in the private sphere, experiences are still more traditional,” shared Dr Mu Zheng, professor of Sociology and panelist at the event.

In China’s middle class, Dr Zheng observes a rising trend of stay-at-home-moms who are well-educated. She explains: Where child-rearing responsibilities exist, women, not men, are the ones who are expected to sacrifice their professional lives.

Why do women have to choose between one or the other? The satisfaction one derives from child-rearing and career-building should not be mutually exclusive. Dr Zheng’s recommendation for there to be more equal sharing of caregiving responsibilities is one we highly welcome.

3.  Do Away with Obligation and Emphasise Love

It is easy to shrug off the challenges of family caregivers in the name of filial piety. Children are supposed to care for parents in old age, no complaints allowed. However, Dr Tan Ern Ser, professor of Sociology and another panelist, presented a surprising finding: Filial piety is not a reliable basis for intergenerational support. On the contrary, when parents overly emphasise obligation, filial piety becomes wrongly experienced as oppression, eventually breeding resentment.

Hence, Dr Tan’s main message was this: Inculcate love in your family, not obligation.

The eye-opening forum shed light on the fact that tackling inequality is an ongoing, continuous project. While we can and should applaud the milestones we have made as a society, forums such as this remind us that there is always space to do more.  

One community who has been silently suffering is family caregivers of the elderly. Only in past years has there been increasing media discourse on the topic. AWARE’s research on eldercare has found that the role of primary caregiver tends to be unfairly thrust onto unmarried daughters. This is ultimately harmful in the long run, because when women leave work for caregiving duties, they lose vital job contacts, and in turn face greater difficulties re-entering the workforce. While Dr Tan’s wish for Singaporeans to emphasise love above all is heartening, at the end of the day, caregiving is physically, emotionally and financially draining. Caregivers make very material sacrifices in the process of giving care, whether out of love or filial piety. The loss of time, income and potential for professional development are not easily recovered in later years, hence entailing support.

In our ageing society, most of us will end up caring for an aged parent or spouse. That is why we can no longer afford to remain indifferent to inequality of all kinds.