Breakdown of Number of People Who Have Stayed in Crisis Shelters in Last Three Years and Their Profiles

14 Ms Yip Pin Xiu asked the Minister for Social and Family Development in the last three years, what is the breakdown of the number of people who have lived in crisis shelters by (i) gender (ii) age (iii) marital status (iv) citizenship status and (v) length of stay.

Mr Desmond Lee: Crisis Shelters are community-based facilities that provide temporary accommodation for women and children facing violence, while the social service professionals work through safety plans and longer-term housing arrangements with them. The Crisis Shelters, funded by MSF, take in about 180 family violence cases on average each year.

Each case may involve more than one client, depending on the family. The demographic profile below is based on the main female client admitted into the crisis shelter between 2017 and 2019, and does not include the male and female children of the adult client.

The median age of the main female clients was 36. About seven out of 10 of them were married, and three quarters were Singapore residents.

More than 90% of clients stayed less than one year, with more than one third staying less than one month.