The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) found more married couples have been likely to pursue a divorce in recent years, The Straits Times reports.
In an unfortunate trend, couples who married not long ago are especially likely to terminate their marriages, as compared to couples who have been married for longer.
Those who wed in 2006, for example, are almost twice as likely to go on separate ways before their ten-year anniversary than those who wed in 1987.
The highest proportion of divorces comes from couples who have been married for five to ten years. This presents additional challenges in arranging caregiving options after their separation, given that such couples are likely to have young children.
The MSF revealed these findings in a newly published report, which tracks the dissolution of marriages, be it a divorce or an annulment, among the Singaporean and permanent resident (PR) population here for a “better insight on marriage stability”.
The findings could be explained by differing attitudes towards marriage among different generations. Younger couples could be less swayed by the conventional conceptualisation of marriage as a life-long commitment, and are more willing to terminate a marriage that is no longer working, according to sociologist Tan Ern Ser.
Associate Professor Tan, who works at the National University of Singapore (NUS), also comments that couples often do not have the time needed to nurture or maintain their relationship with the prevalence of dual-income couples.
They then may not have the time or space necessary to handle conflicts arising from the relationship, tackling the stresses of career and family all at once.
Indeed, social workers experienced in working with divorcing couples believe rising family stress, combined with less quality time between dual-income couples, can be a significant catalyst for divorce.
This is especially true for younger couples, who are often at the start of their careers and are more likely to be floundering financing family expenses, and may be less ready to take on the responsibility of starting a family.
What Brings About A Divorce?
Education and a history of past failed marriages seem also to be significant factors to the likelihood of a divorce, a separate article from The Straits Times reports.
It explains that, since education is often related to income, couples with lower levels of education may experience greater financial stresses as they cope with the cost of raising children and sustaining the family.
This can strain the marriage potentially to the point of divorce.
Remarried couples are also more likely to divorce, possibly because spouses who are marrying again may bring the same, potentially problematic behaviours and modes of communication to their new marriage.
Age also seemingly plays a part in divorce. Younger grooms seem to have a higher propensity for divorce as compared to younger brides who are married to older grooms.
Fei Yue Community Services deputy executive director Arthur Ling attributes this to the possibility that men tend to face greater struggles in contributing financially to the home or in finding stable jobs with decent income.
Younger grooms could also be less mature than older grooms, and be more unprepared when it comes to the responsibility of raising a family.
As for younger grooms versus younger brides, the latter could face a lower divorce rate due to their likely inclination of being more emotionally involved. Hence, younger brides would put in more effort into their marriages as compared to younger grooms.
Feature Image: Daniel Jedzura / Shutterstock.com
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