Divorced and never-married mothers in Singapore : practices, challenges and hopes

In Singapore, the concept of family as one made up of a legally married couple with the husband as 'head of the household' is widely adopted and accepted. This idea of family is naturalized in nationalist constructions of the Singaporean family stemming not just from the state, but from various moral institutions in multicultural Singapore. As family policies and services are designed and provided based on this state-approved definition of family, non-mainstream families such as female-headed households often find themselves confronting various obstacles in their navigation within public systems and institutions. Using empirical data collected from in-depth interviews with Singaporean divorced and never-married mothers, this paper provides insights into how divorced and never-married mothers lead, organize and practise family under the condition of patriarchy. What challenges do they face in an unfavourable policy environment? How do they overcome these? What hopes and aspirations do they have for their particular families? While the government defends its policy approaches towards non-mainstream families, the paper provides sociological reasons as to why they should be supported. The research findings have implications for policy review and the management of diversity in population and family demographics as the nation comes of age.