Essay on Dual-Income Families in Singapore: Causes and Issues

This essay examines the sociological implications of dual-income families in modern Singapore, where both parents often work, leading to children spending less time with them. The essay explores the primary reasons behind this trend, including the need to meet rising living costs and achieve a better work-life balance. It then delves into the problems that can arise from this situation, such as a generation gap, behavioral issues, and potential mental health concerns in children, including depression and involvement in negative peer groups. The essay emphasizes the importance of parents dedicating sufficient time to their children's well-being, arguing that while financial stability is important, parental care and guidance are crucial for a child's healthy development. The conclusion underscores the need for Singaporean parents to prioritize their children's needs despite their busy schedules to mitigate potential adverse effects and ensure a supportive family environment. This essay is a valuable resource for students seeking to understand the dynamics of contemporary Singaporean families and their impact on child development.

Running Head: SOCIOLOGY 0
Sociology

SOCIOLOGY 1
Many modern Singaporean families have both parents working. Such dual-income
families often result in children spending less and less time with their parents. What is
the reason for this? What problems can this cause?
In recent time, most of the Singapore parents are doing job. From the recent survey, it is
founded that around 58 per cent of the married couples is dual income. Due to this, life of
family is changing in quite different manner. These parents do not have much time to share
time with their children. In order to get better work-life balance, most of the Singaporean
parents are working hard and spending less time with their children (Bintliff, 2018).
Now a day, most of the people just want to earn more money in order to fulfil their basic
needs. Frequent increment in the prices of basic requirement product is also one such reason
for dual working parents. For the sake of living luxurious life, both parents in Singapore
started earning. At the time of working, parents do not have much time to spend with their
children. In the early years, child is admitted to the boarding schools or they may be alone at
home after school. When the parents of that child come back in the night, they saw their
children sleeping and at the time of morning, they are hurry to reach school. In this way, they
do not get the time for each other and sows the seeds of gap in their generation, bad habits, as
well as sometimes it leads to depression. In various cases, it is also seen that child enters into
a very bad company and start taking drugs from getting out of the depression. Due to this, the
future of the child also seems to be more in the dark. When parents realise that their child is
getting into bad things, it becomes too late (Jones, Hill & Miller, 2018).
In various situations, children become mature before their age and lost their childhood. Due
to this, they are able to enjoy their life and start facing depression. It is true that the proper
love, guidance, as well as care in the initial stage of life, is essential to make the child better
person or confident (Pew Research Center, 2019). However, due to the busy schedule of
Singapore parents, they are not able to give their children proper time and rest are so far.
In order to overcome all these, every parent should give enough time for the wellbeing of
their children. It should be quite clear that money is important but showing care for the child
is also important. To conclude, Singaporean parents now a day have the tendency to keep
themselves busy in their jobs. It is not becoming a major concern for the increment in violent
crime aiming the children as well and their mental illness.

SOCIOLOGY 2
References
Bintliff, E. (2018). Married couples want better work-life balance. Retrieved from:
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/dual-income-couples-want-
better-work-life-balance-10637598
Jones, B. L., Hill, E. J., & Miller, R. B. (2018). Family routines and family satisfaction in
Singapore: work-family fit as a moderator. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources.
Pew Research Center. (2019) Raising kids and running Households: How working parents
share the load. Retrieved from: https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/11/04/raising-
kids-and-running-a-household-how-working-parents-share-the-load/