The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) recently released a report stating that the divorce rate in married couples in Singapore is on the rise. The report particularly pointed out that more recently married couples were choosing to go their separate ways, as compared to older couples.
But why are the new generation couples getting divorced? Read on to know more.
New Generation More Certain To Get Divorced
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The report tracked 29 cohorts of all couples married between 1987 and 2015. The data released by MSF also supports the proverbial seven-year itch with most marriages leading to divorce between their fifth and 10th year.
In this latest report, MSF builds on the parameters of “better insight on marriage stability,” and includes data of couples married up to 2014. The new data shows that more recently married couples have been breaking up as compared to those who wed much earlier.
For instance, between married couples who wed in 2006, about 16 percent split up rate before their 10th wedding anniversary.
For perspective, the divorce rate today is nearly double the 8.7 percent marriage rate in 1987. In simpler terms, more people are getting divorced in recent years than they were married in 1987 in Singapore.
Of the 1987 cohort, the study points out that 18.9 percent couples split up before their anniversary in 2016. However, the least successful marriages were of those who wed between 1991 and 2003. The split up rate for this group stood at nearly 19 percent by 2016.
Why Do Couples Get Divorced?
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There are a number of factors that contribute a couple’s divorce. Social workers suggest that the following are some of the reasons contributing to a higher divorce rate in Singapore.
- Increase in family stress factors
- Less quality time between couples
- Dual-income couples with more focus on their careers
- Less stigma around divorce
- Poor conflict management skills
There’s also been a paradigm shift in relationship dynamics between a couple in today’s times as compared to the 1980s. The social stigma around getting a divorce was so high that you would rather stay quiet in an unhappy marriage. Moreover, many worried about post-divorce financial burden.
However, as more and more individuals are keen on establishing careers first, marriage often comes at a later stage on the priority list in life.
National University of Singapore (NUS) experts also suggest a few other reasons.
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- Younger couples are less likely to be bound by traditions and the fairytale idea of lifelong commitment to an individual.
- Couples are also not afraid to get out of unhappy marriages. This confidence is a significant contributor to the higher divorce rates in Singapore.
- Thriving careers and never-ending deadlines have also overpowered marriages. It can eat into the time that couples need to spend with each other. Such couples have limited knowledge about their partners and are less capable at resolving conflicts.
- Ending a marriage late also has its own set of challenges like that of children. For many people, the idea of starting afresh at a later stage in their life is discouraging. But a person may require little motivation when stuck in a really bad marriage.
This is particularly concerning in cases of domestic violence or even mental violence. A marriage involving either of these needs to be ended at the earliest.
A combination of all of these factors are motivating many young Singaporean couples to go their separate ways.
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News Source: The Straits Times
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