Examining Social Mobility amongst Remarried Ethnic Minority Women in Singapore

Bibliographic Data

ID2348055
AuthorsLavanya Balachandran (0000-0001-7696-615X, National University of Singapore, corresponding author), W J J Yeung (0000-0001-7519-5576, National University of Singapore), Wei-Jun Jean Yeung (National University of Singapore)
Year2020
Volume41
Issue7
Pages1055-1077
Publication date2020-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Family Issues (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0192-513X • E-ISSN: 1552-5481
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0192513x20918441
OpenAlexW3022855414
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited45

Using a qualitative life history approach, this article offers to enhance our understanding of how remarriage impacts social mobility trajectories amongst ethnic minority women in Singapore. In particular, the attention to ethnic minority Malay women's biographies reveals how the intersections of 'ethnicity' and 'class' render visibility to how re-partnership entails social exclusion that is morally and culturally coded concealing the emotional and material struggles that women in stepfamilies cope with. In comparing the lived experiences of remarried middle-class Malay women with their working-class counterparts, this article argues that stepfamily formation in Singapore in fact tends to deepen rather than mitigate vulnerabilities, particularly for the latter, thus failing to live up to the lure of economic stability that repartnerships are conventionally assumed to provide. In so doing, the article also argues for a nuanced understanding of social mobility as a non-linear process rather than an outcome

Ethnic group · General partnership · Malay · Middle class · Political science · Remarriage · Social mobility · Social science · Sociology · Stepfamily · Gender and Women's Rights · Gender Studies · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Psychology · Social Psychology · Socioeconomic Development in Asia

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