Singapore—A new study showed that children from ages three to six who are born to Singaporean fathers and non-Singaporean mothers exhibit more behavioural problems than other children in the same age group.
Common behavioural issues these children exhibit are disobedience, losing their temper easily, or telling lies, among others.
This is due to financial and other stresses on their families, according to the study conducted by Professor Jean Yeung, the founding director of the Centre for Family and Population Research at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
The study, which Prof Yeung conducted with NUS PhD student Ms Shuya Liu, is entitled “Do children in cross-national families have more behaviour problems?” and was funded by the Ministry of Education. It is part of the Professor’s larger research on early childhood development in Singapore.
The study was presented in May at the annual conference of the Population Association of America 2021, The Straits Times reports.
The 2019 Report of Registration of Births and Deaths says that around one out of every three babies had a non-Singaporean mother.
Prof Yeung and Ms Liu’s study showed that families where the mother was born overseas and the father is a Singaporean, “have the lowest per capita family income, highest level of conflict, largest age gap between the couple, and most traditional gender ideologies.”
The average family income of families with foreign-born mums and Singapore-born dads is $1,580, in comparison with the median income of families whose parents were both born in Singapore of $2,586.
Foreign-born mothers are faced with higher amounts of psychological and financial stress, as well as conflicts within the family.
The high levels of conflict in these families, according to Prof Yeung, could be due to the different upbringing and background of the parents, in addition to financial instability.
According to Dr Yeung, the behavioural issues of their children are due to “lower family income, which tends to relate to more economic hardship and higher levels of emotional distress and conflicts”.
And because foreign-born mothers are subject to additional stresses, they tend to be less warm or more punitive in their parenting, “which in turn is associated with children having more externalising behaviour problems,” she added.
The nationwide study involved 2,658 children from the ages of three to six. Along with Ms Shya Lu, a NUS sociology PhD student, they also interviewed the 2,259 mums of the children in the study.
The Professor earlier acknowledged the “vulnerability of migrant spouses”, particularly of wives not born in Singapore, and underlined their need for support so that they can create a better home environment for their children.
Prof Yeung’s larger study has shown that while nearly sixty per cent of children have Singaporean parents, 18 per cent have a Singaporean father a non-Singaporean mother.
However, she added that “The point is not to blame children’s behaviour problems on the foreign-born mothers,” but to rather ensure they get the needed support.
“It will be important for policymakers to focus on interventions that can reduce the economic hardship or alleviate emotional distress and family conflicts (for all families),” ST quotes her as saying.
/TISG
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