State policies and single motherhood

• Main Author: Lim, Audrey Dulei
• Other Authors: Sun Hsiao-Li Shirley
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/55803
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

How much do we know about low-income unwed single mothers in Singapore? Are they still being stigmatized and silenced? Is it fair that they receive fewer incentives? How do they manage their lives given the limited assistance available? Through semi-structured interviews where they shared their opinions on various state policies and schemes, unwed single mothers disclosed how their ineligibility for certain benefits has implicated their lives and their children’s. By adopting the concept of governmentality, this paper seeks to shed light on the circumstance of unwed single mothers who are located at the margins of Singapore society. While governmentality has demonstrated how the Singapore state has governed the citizens through the assorted policies and schemes, unwed single mothers are also governing themselves; they have to look elsewhere for alternative assistance in order not to be further marginalized within their circumstances, and to put their children as priority for fear of them losing out even more. Findings have confirmed that the state policies are ineffective in reinforcing the ideal normal nuclear family formation; instead it has put unwed single mothers and their innocent children at a losing end.