State familism in action:aging policy and intergenerational support in Singapore

Singapore started to tackle the challenges of an aging society in the 1980s after its fertility declined to sub-replacement levels.A core component of the city-state’s aging policy is to foster intergenerational support,which is based on the value of filial piety,harmonious intergenerational relations,and the elderly as a resource.This paper introduces the concept of state familism to capture Singapore’s compre­hensive efforts to strengthen the role of the family in old-age support while pro­moting mutual assistance across generations.The relevant policies range from the Central Provident Fund,housing,taxation,to old-age support packages.These ef­forts distinguish Singapore from other Asian countries where the role of the family is sometimes stressed more in rhetoric than in action.State familism in Singapore has drawn criticisms as it is perceived as an attempt to reduce the government’s responsibility.In the recent decade,the Singapore state significantly increased di­rect financial support for the elderly while keeping the policy of fostering intergen­erational support in place.The paper concludes by discussing the implications of Singapore’s state familism for China and other countries.

Development of Future Generations:Oriented Virtual Negotiation Support System for Intergenerational Conflict

Intergenerational conflict coordination is the fundamental requirement and core of sustainable development. In this paper, through the analysis of the future generations-oriented management mechanisms for intergenerational conflict, the idea of mechanisms and institution building for the coordination and management of intergenerational conflict is put forward. Furthermore, the future generations-oriented virtual negotiation support system (NSS) for intergenerational conflict is developed, built on the analysis of the process simulation of intergenerational wealth transfer, intergenerational equilibrium allocation of resources, and strategies for the mitigation and avoidance of intergenerational conflict, through the application of advanced IT technology. The virtual NSS for intergenerational conflict is helpful to the practical application of the sustainable development theory; on the other hand, it can be applied directly to the intergenerational equilibrium allocation of resources, national economic accounting, formulation of sustainable development strategies and other urgent national economic and social development issues. Finally, the sustainable development theory can be enriched and extended. Therefore, the development of the future generations-oriented virtual NSS for intergenerational conflict has certain theoretical and practical effects on the theory of sustainable development.

The Moderating Effect of Health on the Relationship between Involvement in Housework of Parents’ and Parents-in-Law’s Families and Happiness of Middle-Aged Women in Taiwan

Background: This study aims to investigate the moderating effect of family health status on the relationship between involvement in housework of two-side parents’ families and happiness of middle-aged women in Taiwan. Methods: The data used in this study were gathered from the Ministry of Science and Technology’s program—“Intergenerational expectation and collaboration: an inquiry on a new mechanism of continued tradition across generations”. The subjects (n = 512) were restricted to aged 45 - 64 years old who live with spouses and have children, and one of whose parent or parent-in-law is still alive. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate how family health status moderates the relationship between involvement in housework of parents’ families and parents-in-law’s families and the happiness of middle-aged women. Results: 1) Family health status is positively correlated with their happiness. 2) The parents’ health status can moderate the relationship between involvement in housework of parents’ families and happiness of the middle-aged women. 3) The middle-aged women’s health status can moderate the relationship between involvement in housework of parents-in-law’s families and those women’s happiness, and fathers-in-law’s health status can moderate the relationship between husbands’ involvement in housework of the women’s parents-in-law’s families and women’s happiness. Conclusions: In future, when policies and programs related to the well-being of middle-aged women are being planned, the effect of women’s health and family health status shall be considered as a key to improve those women’s quality of life.