New alliance to boost Singapore marriages and strengthen family ties amid Covid-19

SINGAPORE - With more recent marriages ending earlier and the Covid-19 pandemic causing multiple stressors to lives and livelihoods, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) is partnering the community, religious groups and Singaporeans to find ways to strengthen marriages and family ties.

On Wednesday (Aug 4), the ministry launched the Alliance for Action to Strengthen Marriages and Family Relationships, which will focus on six areas.

It will provide support for newly wed couples, parents, single parents and "families with early risks" such as couples who wed before they turn 21.

The alliance will also focus on strengthening marriages and families among the different religious faiths, and conduct outreach to families in general through its community partners.

The alliance is led by Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling, who said the recent trends of the falling number of marriages and couples breaking up faster were a source of concern.

Fewer couples got married in the past five years, with an average of 26,255 marriages a year. This is about 5 per cent lower than the average of 27,635 marriages a year between 2011 and 2015.

Of particular concern is the fact that more of the recent marriages are not surviving the test of time, Ms Sun said.

Of those who wed in 2006, 16 per cent of the marriages ended before their 10th anniversary - almost double the 8.7 per cent of those who were married in 1987.

Ms Sun said the long tail of the pandemic continues to affect families, from depressing their finances to straining relationships as people spend more time at home.

For example, about 2,000 individuals had sought help from the online counselling service run by the Community Psychology Hub between April 1 last year and June 30 this year. Over 80 per cent of them had marital problems, and divorce, parenting and family issues.

One area the alliance is focusing on is single parents, an issue raised by various Members of Parliament on Monday, as they called for more help for unmarried mothers.

Ms Sun said in Parliament on Monday that the Government has given substantial support to unwed mothers over the years, and that certain benefits, like the Baby Bonus cash gift, are aimed at encouraging parenthood within marriage.

On average, 830 babies were born to unmarried mothers a year in the past five years, with the numbers falling in recent years.

Referring to the alliance, Ms Sun said that while people tend to focus on the financial assistance that single mothers get from the Government, it is also crucial to look at the "ecosystem" of support available for these mums.

Hence, the alliance is reviewing the gaps in support services for single parents and looking to boost the support rendered.

Ms Sun, who is also Minister of State for Education, said the alliance is also planning to help parents understand their children's needs better.

She said: "Through this Alliance for Action, and in close partnership with the Ministry of Education (MOE), we hope to better equip parents so that they are able to have a better understanding of emotional literacy, as well as to better understand their children's needs, to spend more time with their children, to listen to their children, and also to help children regulate the use of social media, as it can have certain influences on the young people's mental well-being."

MOE is also planning to step up cyber wellness topics as part of the Character and Citizenship Education in schools, Ms Sun said.

Ms Sun, who also chairs Compass, the national advisory council that advises MOE on ways to strengthen partnerships between families and schools, said Compass had identified three goals to focus on.

They are cyber wellness and digital literacy, youth mental wellness, and working with parents to broaden the definition of success.

She said Compass had identified these areas last year, before the 13-year-old student was killed in River Valley High School, allegedly by a schoolmate, on July 19, but the tragedy meant that Compass and its partners have to "double down" on these efforts.

Dr Mathew Mathews, a council member of Families for Life and a father of three sons, noted that today's parents have to deal with new challenges, such as social media influences on their children and their mental well-being, which they may not be prepared for.

Hence, the alliance is planning to identify gaps in support, such as for new parents, and improve the support for parents and grandparents when it comes to parenting, among other things, said the head of the Institute of Policy Studies Social Lab.

At the launch of the alliance, various religious leaders spoke about their programmes for couples and families, such as marriage preparation classes and counselling services.

They were Reverend Terry Kee of the Lutheran Church, Venerable Seck Kwang Phing, president of the Singapore Buddhist Federation, chairman of the Sikh Advisory Board Malminderjit Singh, and Mr Izuan M. Rais, executive chairman of the Darul Makmur Mosque and Assyafaah Mosque.

The Alliance for Action to Strengthen Marriages and Family Relationships comes under the Singapore Together movement, where 25 other alliances have been announced over the past year to look into issues ranging from mental health of young people to low-wage workers.

These alliances bring together people from the community, private and public sectors to work together on solutions to social and economic issues.