Mr Ishak Ismail, Chairmain, Families for Life Council;
Families for Life Council Members,
National Family Festival Organising Committee,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
INTRODUCTION
1. Good afternoon. I am delighted to join the Families For Life Council, to express our heartfelt appreciation to partners here today. Your contributions made the first National Family Festival a memorable and enjoyable event for all families.
PARTNERS’ CONTRIBUTIONS TO NFF
2. This year, what was previously a week-long line-up of family events expanded into a month-long celebration of families. We collaborated with over 200 corporate and community partners, who provided generous support and gave their time and energies to make the Festival possible. These include our Organising Committee, comprising People’s Association, SportSG, National Youth Council and PMO, along with everyone here today.
3. There was something for everyone to enjoy at this year’s Festival, from a lively NFF@Expo carnival, to father-child bonding at McDonald’s and a learning journey on family values at National Gallery Singapore.
4. I attended many National Family Festival events over the month of June, but one encounter stood out to me. When I was standing at Universal Studios Singapore, I saw the eyes of children light up when they first entered USS, as many of them had never been there before. Their parents looked happy to be spending quality time with their children. I realised then that this is what building a place for families looks like – where volunteers, organisations, and the Government all work together, towards building a Singapore Made for Families.
5. Many of our corporate partners are committed to build a family-friendly workplace culture and to support their employees in balancing their work and family commitments. Besides supporting the National Family Festival, many have started to organise parenting talks for their employees and to celebrate family days in their workplaces.
6. Other than our corporate and community partners, volunteers are key. For this year’s National Family Festival, we were joined by nearly 600 volunteers and partners. Each of them enabled us to have reach across Singapore and sustain our efforts across the 4 weeks. Thank you to all Families For Life volunteers, who gave your time and put in so much effort to provide meaningful experiences for families. In this Year of Celebrating Volunteers, we affirm and celebrate your contributions.
7. I’m pleased to share that through our collective efforts, the National Family Festival reached more than 700,000 participants – over three times more than last year. It means 700,000 families now have fantastic memories with their families.
FAMILY TRENDS REPORT
8. Underpinning the National Family Festival, and indeed all the work we do at MSF, is our firm conviction that family is the bedrock of our society. Families are where we are nurtured to become resilient individuals, and who we turn to as our first line of support.
9. Over the years, across my various portfolios, I have seen the importance of families, whether in laying a strong foundation for health and well-being in the early years, or helping ex-offenders turn over a new leaf. Just last week at the Mendaki Symposium, the National Youth Council shared that strong families with a positive family environment help ensure better well-being among our youths.
10. I am glad that the majority of Singaporeans value families, with close to 9 in 10 respondents in a recent MSF poll agreeing that strong families are key to a strong and cohesive society.
11. The Singapore Made For Families 2025 plan which we laid out in 2022, captures our shared commitment across the whole-of-society to create a Singapore that values and supports the well-being of families.
12. As we strengthen the ecosystem of support around our families, it is important to better understand the state of families in Singapore. This allows all of us to see where we have done well, and where we can improve to build on our progress.
13. Therefore, today, I am pleased to announce the release of MSF’s Family Trends report. This report provides an update on the state of families in our society. It covers statistics related to every stage of a family’s life, including marriage and family formation, early childhood, and ageing. This is the first time we are publishing the report and going forward, we plan to publish this report on an annual basis.
14. The data in this year’s report is encouraging, as it shows that families remain strong and resilient.
a. More recent cohorts of marriages have greater marriage stability, as seen by the lower dissolution rates among the 2006 – 2012 marriage cohorts, compared to an earlier 2005 marriage cohort.
b. A 2023 MSF survey on families also found that 86% of families reported moderate to high family resilience scores. This means that these families are generally able to recover from challenges together as a family. The majority of respondents also reported having a close-knit family.
15. Singapore also remains a good place for families, across every life stage.
a. In 2023, there were over 28,000 marriages registered, which is over 2,000 marriages more than a decade ago. Overall, the 5-year moving average for marriages has been stable. Hopefully, we will see more joyous unions this year!
b. The number of full-day infant care and childcare places have also increased steadily over the decade. As a result, more children are enrolled in preschools. The cohort enrolment rate of children aged 3 to 4 years increased from 75% in 2013 to 90% in 2023. Today, there are enough full-day places at the national level to cater to every resident child aged three and above.
16. Mindsets are also changing, showing the good work we have put in as a society to strengthen families.
a. More employers are adopting flexible working practices, to help employees with caregiving responsibilities. Employees’ access to flexible work arrangements has increased over the past decade, from 66% to 84%.
b. There has also been a slight increase in the number of fathers taking on an active role in their children’s lives. Take-up rates of Government-Paid Paternity Leave have increased from 47% for children born in 2016 to 53% for those born in 2021, and MSF will look at how we can raise this even higher.
c. These trends are worth celebrating, as it means that more children are growing up with the support and guidance that they need from their parents, even when both parents are working.
17. We will continue to work with important partners, including those gathered here today, to do even better, and support all families through key stages of their lives.
LOOKING AHEAD & CONCLUSION
18. Once again, I would like to thank each and every one of you for your contributions in celebrating and strengthening families.
19. We aspire to grow the National Family Festival such that it is a natural fixture in the calendars of families, corporates, and organisations every June. Next year, we strive to reach out to even more families. We look forward to walking this journey with you and to deepening our partnership.
20. Let us continue to work together to build a Singapore Made for Families. Thank you.