Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Elderly Population In Singapore: Understanding Social, Physical And Financial Needs, John A. Donaldson, Catherine J. Smith, Balambigai Balakrishnan, Mumtaz Md Kadir, Sanushka Mudaliar

Lien Centre for Social Innovation: Research

Who are Singapore’s low-income elderly? What makes some resilient in the face of multiple challenges? What are their social needs that might be filled by additional interventions via civil society or government programmes? These are some of the questions this publication tries to understand.

It does so not by surveying the elderly, but via intensive interviews with 100 residents of one low-income neighbourhood in Singapore. Whereas surveys can help gather generalisable data, interviews can help us see the ‘story behind the story,’ illuminating potential causal connections and providing hints regarding possible effective ways to intercede. We followed this up with …

Single-Parent Families In Singapore: Understanding The Challenges Of Finances, Housing And Time Poverty, Emma Glendinning, Catherine J. Smith, Mumtaz Md Md Kadir

Lien Centre for Social Innovation: Research

This publication documents the unmet social needs of single-parent families in Singapore. It specifically focuses on four key areas; employment and finance, housing, social networks and time poverty. In-depth, qualitative interviews were completed with 88 low-income single parents across Singapore. These interviews provided the opportunity to truly explore the stories of these single-parent families, displaying the complexity and interplay of the issues they faced.

Our findings display the huge responsibility that single parents carry as they balance the caregiving and financial needs of their family, alongside negotiating policies that are largely suggested to support the “traditional” family structure. While respecting …

A Handbook On Inequality, Poverty And Unmet Social Needs In Singapore, Catherine J. Smith, John A. Donaldson, Sanushka Mudaliar, Mumtaz Md Kadir, Lam Keong Yeoh

Lien Centre for Social Innovation: Research

The authors of the handbook conclude that efforts to address poverty, inequality and unmet social needs in Singapore would be greatly enhanced by: (a) the development of locally relevant and nuanced monetary and non-monetary measures of poverty that are made publicly available; and (b) more sharing of disaggregated data from government studies and surveys. These steps would enable academics, VWOs and the public at large become more aware of the issues related to poverty and inequality in Singapore, and be placed in a better position to weigh in on debates and solutions.