Possible Revisions to Schemes Following Government's Study on Impact of Divorce

1 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Social and Family Development arising from the Study on the Inter-generational Effects of Divorce on Children in Singapore (a) whether there were significant differences in the outcomes of the children based on the age of the child when the parents got divorced; and (b) what are the Ministry’s next steps in further examining the issue of a "divorce penalty" on our children and studying the efficacy of our interventions to reduce the effect of this penalty.

The Minister of State for Social and Family Development (Ms Sun Xueling) (for the Minister for Social and Family Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, divorce is never easy but some couples have had to make such a decision. Raising children poses its own challenges, and divorced parents, just like any other parent, want the best for their children and try their best to raise their children well.

The MSF study on the inter-generational effects of divorce covered more than 100,000 children and of these, about 8,800 of them were children whose parents divorced when they were below 21 years old. The study did not attempt to determine causality, that is, it did not seek to determine if the divorce itself caused certain outcomes in children.

Rather, the study examined the children’s outcomes in the following five areas and its co-occurrence with parental divorce: one, whether they obtained a university degree; two, their annual income, three, their balances in CPF MediSave and Special Accounts; four, whether they got married; and five, whether they divorced among those who got married.

There was no clear finding suggesting a relationship between the child’s age when the parents divorced and the child’s outcomes at age 35. MSF will continue to look deeper into various aspects of divorce so as to understand the factors that are associated with positive or negative child outcomes post-divorce.

The study findings show a significant negative association between parental divorce and children outcomes based on the five factors analysed. In other words, in general, children whose parents were divorced were more likely to not fare as well as those whose parents remained married based on the five factors analysed. But it is not a deterministic cause and effect relationship. In fact, the findings also indicated that amongst children whose parents were divorced, there were some who did as well and even better than many children whose parents remained married.

Hence, in cases of parental divorce, it is important to focus more efforts on early intervention for the children, not only to mitigate the potential negative effects but also to enhance their positive development. This intervention effort should be based on rigorous evidence from the social and behavioural sciences, and for it to work we will need good policies and the help from experts but also the support from families, communities and indeed a whole-of-society approach.

Today, couples who are undergoing divorce go through parenting programmes. Under the Women’s Charter, those who cannot agree on the divorce or its ancillary matters must attend a mandatory parenting programme before they can file for divorce. For those who agree on the divorce and its ancillary matters, they can go for the Parenting PACT programme after the divorce is concluded. Muslim couples considering divorce attend the Syariah Court’s mandatory Marriage Counselling Programme, as well as parenting programmes as part of the divorce process. All these initiatives for civil as well as Muslim divorces aim to raise parents’ awareness of their children’s needs and the importance of co-parenting in a respectful and collaborative manner. We will continually review both the process and the content of these initiatives to enhance their efficacy.

For couples experiencing marital stress or contemplating divorce, we have started a new online counselling pilot with the Community Psychology Hub in April 2020. Couples or their children can also alternatively approach any of our six Divorce Support Specialist Agencies (DSSAs) if they require counselling support. We will also be introducing a new pre-divorce online portal in late 2021. In this regard, MSF has just completed an engagement session with more than 120 citizens, many of whom were divorcees. I thank them for stepping forward as it is not easy for them. They have given us valuable inputs on how we can better provide information that parents need to consider when contemplating divorce, ranging from the emotional well-being of their children to bread and butter issues that impact their children, particularly housing and financial stability. MCCY will also be conducting a similar engagement with a focus on Muslim divorce issues.

MSF provides an evidence-based programme for parents and children between six and 15 years of age. This programme is called “Children in Between” and is run by counsellors from the DSSAs. It equips children with skills to manage their feelings and develop resilience. Although there are about 6,500 children a year whose parents get divorced, only about 100 children attend “Children in Between”. We are looking into how we can encourage more divorced parents to enrol themselves and their children for this important programme.

Our schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) provide support to all students who are facing personal challenges. I encourage parents who would like such support for their children to approach the network of teachers, counsellors and Education and Career Guidance counsellors. I also encourage the older students, especially those who are teenagers, to seek help from this extensive network. If you are facing issues arising from your parents’ divorce, you need not handle it on your own. Please turn to this network of care and support.

Earlier, I mentioned that we had engaged more than 120 citizens on the pre-divorce support portal, and that many of them were divorcees. While they appreciated what we were trying to do, many strongly urged us to also try to save marriages. Indeed, it is as important, if not more, that we increase our upstream efforts to strengthen marriages.

We will also step up our efforts to encourage couples to undergo marriage preparation programmes such as the evidence-based Prevention and Relationship Education Programme (PREP) workshops run by our Social Service Agencies, which equips them with the skills to build a strong foundation for marriage. MSF offers a rebate of $140 for the PREP workshop, or $70 for other approved programmes conducted by Social Service Agencies. For Muslim couples, we provide Cinta Abadi marriage preparation programme which is now offered online to make it even more accessible.

Solemnisers can also play an important role to support newlyweds. A group of Kadis/Naib Kadis from the Registry of Muslim Marriages initiated the ground-up effort, Bersamamu or “With You”, to inspire strong and stable marriages. The Bersamamu has two components namely, face-to-face (F2F) interaction with soon to-wed couples and the Kadis/Naib Kadis remain connected with the newlyweds for up to two years after their solemnisation. Since Bersamamu started in July 2019, about 6,000 couples have attended the F2F Bersamamu with their Kadis/Naib Kadis. We will be engaging solemnisers from ROM and hope that we can find champions among them who would develop similar initiatives.

Since March 2019, we have trained 215 community leaders, religious and lay leaders as well as marriage solemnisers as Marital First Responders (MFRs). They will provide basic marriage support to couples facing marital issues, especially in its early stages before matters turn for the worse. We will continue to train more MFRs to support more couples in need. We are also working with social service agencies, community and religious organisations to offer more marriage enrichment programmes so that couples can nurture and deepen their relationships through life’s ups and downs, and find fulfilment in their marriage.

We will continually review and examine the efficacy of our interventions to mitigate post-divorce issues as well as to strengthen marriages, in order to improve children’s outcomes for all families.

Mr Speaker: Mr Melvin Yong.

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Radin Mas): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister of State for her reply. Divorce can be messy affairs and the children in these cases often suffer the consequences. Just last night, I had two divorce-related conflict cases at my Meet-the-People Session (MPS).

Our children need stability and security to grow into healthy adults and experts have said that it is important for divorced parents to remain amicable and be able to effectively co-parent, in order to mitigate what the experts term as "divorce penalty".

I would like to ask the Minister of State, on average, how many percent of divorce cases are high-conflict cases, where the parents are unable to co-parent well; and whether MSF's social workers are able to step in earlier to help the children in such divorce cases, rather than having to wait until the Court orders a supervised exchange and visitation programme?

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for his question. As a rough gauge, there were 249 Court Orders for supervised exchange or supervised visitation in 2019 – I guess you could consider that these are high-conflict situations – out of 7,620 divorces. This translates to about 3% of all divorces. I take the point that, indeed, we need to intervene earlier. I recognise the point that children may suffer the consequences of divorces if they are not handled properly and amicably. And that is why in my earlier reply, I had gone to some extent to talk about the marriage counselling programmes that we have.

Just to give an example. The marriage parenting programme I mentioned earlier for civil divorces is a consultation session for parents with minor children before they file for divorce and it is compulsory. It is designed to encourage divorcing couples to make improved decisions that prioritises the well-being of their children. For instance, the areas that they look at are to discuss the financial challenges they may face post-divorce, their living arrangements, child custody and access, as well as the co-parenting and parenting plan.

We have various counselling sessions before the finalisation of a divorce to exactly achieve what the Member had shared with us: that we want to achieve the best available outcomes for children to mitigate the impact of divorces on them.

Ms Carrie Tan (Nee Soon): I thank the Minister of State for her response and for sharing with us the programmes related to support, post-divorce, and also, pre-marital counselling. I would like to highlight that when couples go through divorce, unfortunately, despite all the efforts in pre-marital counselling and support that has already happened, it is a very difficult journey.

I would like to ask what exactly was the Ministry's intention and motivation for this study? And what was the motivation for publishing the results of this study in a manner that, unfortunately, I think, creates the unintended further stigmatising of divorcees, achieving the effect of maybe potentially guilt-tripping them, and also the unfortunate labelling of children from divorced families. Are there any measures within the Ministry to look into better planning such communications in future, where it can be accompanied by further and deeper insights into the factors that account for the outcomes that were shared? I understand the spirit of data sharing and observations, but the timing of this publication and the limited scope or insights that it provided, unfortunately, created a certain effect amongst divorcees.

I went through a broken marriage before. I was quite saddened when I saw this and I questioned myself. Does this make it harder for couples who are already considering divorce due to very difficult circumstances in their marriage? Because then, they would worry about these outcomes, which they already do worry about. It does not help them in their consideration process.

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for her observation and her sharing. We fully recognise that divorce is a difficult process and also, a deeply personal one. That is why when I started my response, I had said that it is never easy. The intent of MSF to publish this research study is not to guilt trip anyone. But we have data, administrative data, and we think that there are important observations that can be made from this data. And we wanted to share it with practitioners and families, so that they understand what the data presents.

MSF undertook the study to understand the potential impact of divorce. Like I have said, we looked at divorce and its co-occurrence with the five factors that I have shared earlier. But it is not about cause and effect. We are not talking about causation. We are talking about co-occurrence. That was how the study was conducted. Now that we have this information, the next step we want to look at is how we can further strengthen marriages, how we can help to prevent divorce where it is possible. But we fully recognise that, in some instances, for certain family dynamics, divorce may jolly well be the best way out for everyone. And if that is the case, and if there are young minor children involved, how best do we mitigate the impact of divorces on these children? That is the intent and the spirit of this study. But I fully acknowledge and take the Member's point about the importance of communications and that is why I really appreciate the opportunity to share about MSF's motivations at this occasion today.

Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Thank you, Sir. I think the "Children in Between" programme is an important one. But as the Minister of State has just shared, the problem really is that the take-up rate is so low. So, I am just wondering whether MSF will consider making this programme mandatory, just like how we make the parenting programme mandatory as well.

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for the suggestion. We will look into it. I guess, in any situation, we also have to consider the family dynamics. But I think it is a worthy suggestion the Member has made and MSF will study it. Thank you.

Mr Speaker: Ms Carrie Tan.

Ms Carrie Tan: Thank you, Minister of State. I would like to find out whether there are current plans and timelines for further studies around the various factors contributing to these outcomes that children from divorced families present. I think that will contribute to certain mitigation measures and specific programmes to address those factors. Are there any plans right now for this kind of research to further pursue the factors contributing to these outcomes?

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for her supplementary question. I think with the data we have on hand, the next step we will look at is to explore what causes divorces and how we can better protect and strengthen marriages and also to mitigate the impact of divorce. If we were to attempt to try to explain causality, the way we would approach the study would be very different from how we have done so for this particular study because we would have to track the experience of the child from when the divorce takes place and we have to be able to isolate specific factors and, over time, see how the child has grown and developed and what eventually the outcome of the child is. It is different from how we have conducted the survey as it is now, which is based on administrative data and looks at where the child is, how they have performed at specific points in time.

So, for us to undertake that kind of longitudinal study to determine causation will require a lot of resources. I think, for the time being, we will focus efforts on how we can better strengthen marriages, help the process when couples are contemplating divorce. I had talked about the pre-divorce support portal. So, those would be the immediate next steps that we will be taking.