Darren Ng (A0125663E); Dhivya T (A0126831J); Manvi Motiani (A0133878R)

UTC2403 (Section 1)
Case Study Proposal: Non-traditional Families & Public Housing

Citizenship in a Changing World: Case Study Proposal

The names of your groups members (3 or 4 names)

i. Darren Ng Zhi Rong (A0125663E)

ii. Dhivya T (A0126831J)

iii. Manvi Vikram Motiani (A0133878R)

The case study topic

a) Should National Service (or a variant) be compulsory for female citizens as
well?

A brief overview of the problem identified

A prominent issue in public debate today is the continuing relevance (or
irrelevance) of National Service, as well as
a) Rising number of annulments and divorces
Total number of annulments and divorces: 5,137 in 2000 7,525 in
2013; increase of >46%
Increase in marriages of 16% between same years; means net
increase of annulments/divorces.
b) Stagnant number of single-parent families
Average of 550 births per year from 2007 2011; slightly
decreasing
About 60% of these births were by mothers between the ages
of 15 and 24 years old. 80% of the mothers had secondary
and below education; inference on low-income?
c) Glaring mismatch with current public housing policies (21 years old for
widowed, orphaned, married; 35 years old for unmarried, divorced)
disadvantage against single parents who are unmarried or divorced for
public housing, which is cheapest in housing market (percentage
cheapest?)
d) Incidence between poverty and single-parent families? Socio-economic
class issues. Young age of single parents, as well as high incidence of
annulments/divorces a year, means that there does exist a community of
single-parent families in need of support; due to public housing policies,
single-parent families must be dependent on their own parents, due to the
preference for nuclear family units.
e) GE surfaced a lot of concerns regarding inclusiveness; if non-traditional
families forming a community which falls through the cracks.

The key stakeholders and their positions:

Stakeholder
Group Composition Position
Group
Darren Ng (A0125663E); Dhivya T (A0126831J); Manvi Motiani (A0133878R)
UTC2403 (Section 1)
Case Study Proposal: Non-traditional Families & Public Housing

Both divorcees and More support mainly financial

Single parents unmarried individuals with for the purchase or rental of
children public housing.

Children in single- Children being taken care

parent families of by one of their parents

Ministry of Social and

Government
Family Development

Others trying to purchase

Community
the same apartment

What are the key relevant citizenship concepts from the course readings? Why are
they at stake or otherwise applicable? (Try to list at least 3)

Data and other evidence

Data/Evidence On Source Issuer Data Type

(e.g. report,
census,
news article,
etc)

e.g. Singapores laws on an issue e.g. e.g. e.g.

Singapore Singapore Published
Statutes Ministry of statutes
online Law
<address>

Single-parent families are excluded

from the full entitlements of the Baby
Bonus, Parenthood Tax Rebate (PTR)
and Government Paid Maternity Leave
(GPML)

PTR, Working Mothers Child Relief

(WMCR) and Grandparent Caregiver
Relief (GCR) explicitly require the
applicant to be married, divorced or
widowed

Public housing require applicants to

form a family unit comprising at least a
spouse or a parent

From 2013, family units that include

dependent children are allowed for
widowed and divorced persons, and
their inclusion can be seen in schemes
such as Home Ownership Plus
Education (HOPE) and Assistance
Scheme for Second-Timers (ASSIST),
but parents who have never wed
remain unrecognised in the existing
schemes
Darren Ng (A0125663E); Dhivya T (A0126831J); Manvi Motiani (A0133878R)
UTC2403 (Section 1)
Case Study Proposal: Non-traditional Families & Public Housing

Possible outcomes - What do you expect to find? Any predicted policy

implications/ recommendations?

What are the possible limitations of your case study?