More Singaporean Elderly Living Without Children
If you thought that the elderly in Singapore typically have the support of their children living with them, you’re still right. But the trend is dropping fast.
Huh? Aren’t Singaporeans generally filial, and don’t they generally stay with their parents and generally take care of them?
Generally, I don’t know either, but here are some stats that might set off some alarm bells:
1) From 2010 to 2015, The proportion of residents aged 65 years and over living with their children dropped from:
66.7% to 61.3%
2) In the same period, the proportion of residents aged 65 years and over living with their spouse but without children living with them rose from:
19.4% to 23.3%
One of our most vulnerable members of society, the Singaporean elderly, are increasingly losing the invaluable support of the younger generation, and it should be bothering someone if nothing is done to match this trend. From ailing health to tired bodies, the elderly need help to maintain their homes to be able to age in place and live comfortably. Many of the elderly in our community are living sub-optimal lives, invisible to the busy bubble that we Singaporeans comfortably reside in. This shouldn’t be the case when the elderly should be living their golden years, enjoying their rest and family, reaping the fruits of their laboured youth.
A typical go-to move in the care of elderly parents has been to contract live-in maids to take care of them throughout the week. However, with reports that other countries like Indonesia have begun the process of stopping the export of live-in domestic helpers, we might see a trend rising where hiring foreign domestic helpers will no longer be viable. Furthermore, the uncomfortable home-professional relationship between maids and employers has been known to lead to disaster because the line between personal and professional is often blurred when the maid both lives and works in the house.
It is often the state and the family that is charged with the care of the elderly, but one angle that is understated is the power of community. Instead of outsourcing elderly help to maids or nursing homes, why not advance an eco-system for home-care in the community of the elderly. If Singaporeans are able to help other Singaporeans, we’d have a better, more caring, and more loving society.
(Data from this article was drawn from the General Household Survey 2015)
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