Dear A03,
Based on the video, ‘Dad’s Changing Role’, state 3 implications (i.e. Social, Economic, Political) for the Singapore society, should a significant number of fathers here decide to take on such a role more actively.
Please also take into account the impact of the shift on the individual and on the nation.
Please post your response as comments under this post, and watch out for my replies to you (you might have to refresh constantly – because as a dinosaur, I’m not sure if it’s real time or if you need to manually refresh it). My replies could:
1) Get you to comment on another friend’s comment (opinion on your friend’s stand, etc)
2) (if your friends have commented on your response, please reply to their response)
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Happy E-learning! 🙂
Miss Geraldine
14A03 GP Blog 
im here
Please watch the video on LMS first k! 🙂
so after watching we just comment here? 😮
Yes, please watch the video on LMS first!
noted. 🙂
Watched the video already.
Theres double echo cannot hear properly
If you need to, click on the links in the instructions to watch the video without the echo 🙂
do we need to draw what i think a family is like and submit on firday?
Not necessary haha. You guys can hang it on your wall at home 🙂
There is indeed a change in the role of a farther. In the past the father is encourage to work and earn money for the family and the mother will take care of the child. Now, there is shift in the responsibilities that father should also take care of their children. From the video, it seems that the father do enjoy in spending quality time with his children. Personally, I think that it is important that a child receive care and love from both parents for a healthy upbringing. It is important because that would foster closer ties between each and every one in the family. If the child only receives care and concern from the mother all the time, when the child grows up, he or she would tend to listen to the mother more instead of the father and there would be a communication breakdown.
P.S: Maybe when I become a father next time then I share my thoughts here again. XD just joking.
Nice. Now think about how the dynamics would be different in future if fathers take on the role of the nurturer in the family. Would the reverse happen? Where the mother now becomes the secondary caregiver? How would this impact the child or society? Is your society ready to accept this shift in responsibility?
For the near future I think that the father will still be the one that supports the family but with the rise in cost for everything, both parents are usually working and the responsibilities goes to the helper or the grandparents. That is why there are many cases where by children are not willing to communicate with their parents or they are not sure of how to bring their problems across to their parents because the only time the children will be seeing the parent is before sleep and not much of quality time is spent on the child.
I am here
When a significant number of fathers here decide to take on such a role more actively.in Singapore, the society will be affected in all 3 aspects-social,political and economic. For the social aspect, it can be seen that the changing role of fathers has a positive impact on the society as more fathers now are spending more time with their children and are bonding with their families. This suggest that there are more time for interaction between families and that fathers could teach certain cultural values to their children and explaining what is happening around the world to their children during this interaction time. Hence, this will lead to a more inclusive society and that families would be more bonded. For the economic aspect,however,it would not have such a positive impact.For example, when more fathers need to spend more time with their children and family, they may switch their current job to find a shorter working hours job so as to spend more time with their family. This will have a detrimental impact on the economic aspects of the society, since fathers will more likely to earn less income than before due to their shorter working hours.Lastly, for the political impact, the government would not need to step in and intervene so much in the matters of family issues now, since fathers are playing a vital role and spending more time with their family now than before, so the government can use this fund for families in Singapore to use it for other uses.
Do you think that with more fathers leaving the workforce or taking up part-time positions, mothers would rise up and have more opportunities to invest their time in working and supporting the family financially? Would this then lead to a favourable economic structure instead of one which would fail due to a lack of men in the workforce?
Dad’s changing role from breadwinners to staying at home to take care of their families. Now, it’s accepted that fathers can stay at home and look after the baby and have special bonds, and it’s not about work for the men.
Social impact:
With more fathers staying at home, they can relate and better understand the child instead of the mom being the closer one to the child
Do not credit their good fortune to the birth and circumstances
Economic impact: Better work at life opportunities and that lesser men available for the labour-intensive jobs.
Political impact: Equity and social mobility
How does having a stay-home dad facilitate or stimulate social mobility? Please elaborate. Also, do you think that your society is ready to accept this shift in responsibility in parental roles? Why?
Dad’s role changed from breadwinners to taking care of their families. In the past they were not allowed to be involved in taking care of the baby, they had no emotions. Some dads become stay home parents now. Dads are now viewed as sensitive and understanding but also protecting and looking after the family. Dads enjoy being at home. It allows them to be more flexible However, some feel that it is difficult to be fathers.
Social impact: The society will be more accepting to dads being stay home parents.
Economic impact: Lesser dads will go to work to support their family, and contribute to the economy.
Political impact: Equity for both dads and moms.
Good job in bringing up that this could be a step towards gender equality. Explain how this could be emphasised through the acceptance of fathers taking on the caregiver’s role.
Social impact : Youths are self-centered now
They are often referred to as judgemental, anti-corporate and leaning back(slackers)
This is due to the exposure to western culture and its ideas and values .
This results in declining population and competition .
growing social distance
Economic impact :
higher standard of living
better work and life opportunities
access to faster, better and cheaper travel and communication
Political impact :
equity and upward social mobility for most people
the purpose of meritocracy must not worsen the divide between the successful and the rest of the society
Yuet Yuen, please read my question carefully. You were supposed to post your answers according to the video “Dad’s Changing Role”.
On the other hand, your response is quite interesting. Perhaps you could explain how the youth are self-centred (in what way) and the reasons why they might be so.
The changing role of Dad has led to 3 implications namely socially, economically and politically.
The changing role of dads in our society has now led to less business orientated people as they are now more involved in their families to care for the members.
Socially, more women have entered the workforce thus having equity between women and men’s role and responsibility in the society. Nowadays, men are not the only party holding the realms of the financial strings in the family thus as they spend more time with their children, the society’s view of men will change.
Economically, as men and women have equal roles in the society, there are more people in the workforce thus financial scene will be more economically strong and vibrant.
Politically, it has help to promote social mobility and equity in the society and now women have more roles in the political scene as well.
Very good job in bringing up how we could be approaching a balance in the society with the influx of women in the workforce. Of course, this also shows how women are not restricted to the kitchen or nursery at home anymore. How do you think your society would react to this shift?
If more and more fathers stay home and some are the sole breadwinners of the household, the family may suffer economically. I do feel that fathers staying home to take care their children is a good thing because they will be able to relieve the mother’s burden and also experience the hardships that women have to go through. Children will be able to get to know their father more because they spend more quality time together .
However, society has a perception that father’s who stay home aren’t as successful as those who are out working and providing for the family. I personally think that stay home fathers are very admirable because they are willing to sacrifice their time to take care of the household. It is definitely not an easy job.
The nation will definitely be more family inclined. Singapore does want this and as such, the government does everything in its power to promote this. In this way, we as a nation will be more compassionate and loving.
Do you think that the shift in parental roles would result in women being aloof and detached from the family? How would this fulfill the nation’s vision of its citizens being more compassionate and caring towards their own country?
No, I do not think that women would end up being aloof and detached. Motherly love will always still be there because the child has spent more time with his mother while in the womb. Mothers will always care about their children no matter what they are doing.
There would be more filial piety and also better relationships between family members. There will a better understanding between families
3 implications:
Social: -The father will be better bonded with his family
-Father understands the difficulties that the mother face
Economic: -More women will join the workforce, allowing for more income in the family.Thus there would be a strong economy
-Father may find another job that has flexible working hours,allowing him to take care of the child and also earn and contribute to monthly expenses
Political: -Government has always been promoting parents to stay at home more often. Dads are also given the rights to not report to work if they are looking after the child
What do you think are some implications on the society if the father is better bonded with his children? Do you think that mothers who work would face the same problem of detachment from the family?
Both parents will feel detached from the family if they concentrate too much on work. Furthermore,the child will feel closer to their caregiver instead. Thus the government has always promoted work-life balance in a bid to prevent parents from being too detached from their family.
In the social aspect, there would be a changing perception of fathers in Singapore.Fathers would be seen as taking on the mother’s role in a traditional family structure. As such, they might probably be look down upon by the society as their social status is not that high as before where they were the sole breadwinners of the family. in addition, the changing perception of fathers in Singapore may even affect the male gender population here as a whole. There might even be difficulty for the male gender and fathers to find a job in the future due to such perception they people perceive.
In the political aspect, the idea of meritocracy may not really apply that much to everyone being given an equal opportunity to achieve their goals and succeed.
In the economic aspect, if Singaporean fathers were to take on such a role more actively, the mothers will not only probably be the sole breadwinner of the family, but such a reality will also spell trouble for our economy.
The shrinking workforce we are currently facing is affecting our country’s economy. Lesser people are able to contribute economically and with fathers staying at home taking care of children, it will only further shrink the workforce that will provide obstacles to our country’s economic growth and development
What kind of perception would affect the male population’s chances of securing a good job? Please elaborate.
Why do you not think that meritocracy is applicable in this aspect? Would it be different for women with children who are looking for a job? With the father being the caregiver, would the employers assess women with a different set of criteria?
The political implication for the Singapore society could be that females would have a stronger say in how the country should be governed, in the sense that decisions made could be seen from a female living in Singapore’s perspective, to ensure the equal treatment of both genders. This could also be linked to the social implication. As Singapore becomes more globalised, we see that there is an increasing number of females holding onto high positions in the corporate world. Gender equality could be seen in Singapore today as more fathers are taking the role of a stay-at-home dad. As for the economic implication, the family could suffer from lower household income when one parent decides not to work but stay at home to care for their child. Hence instead of having 2 incomes, the family now has to depend on 1.
Very good in pointing out how this might be a progress in gender equality now. However, do you think that this would be realised in the near future? What other difficulties do women face in the workplace, which could continue despite this shift in parental roles?
I think this could be realised in the near future as there are now more incentives implemented by the government to better include fathers in their child’s process of growing up such as being able to apply for paternity leave when their child is born to help look after the baby, or if their child is sick and had to stay home from school. In the case of these events, fathers receive the same work leave as mothers to stay home to look after their child. Companies have also set aside a number of days of leave for fathers to stay home to care for their child. For instance under the SingHealth scheme, fathers can claim up to 3 days of childcare leave in a year.
Despite this shift in parental roles, women could still be looked down upon by companies as being incompetent of taking of high ranked positions especially in companies where majority of high ranked positions are taken by men. Women would have to put in much more effort than a men does in order to prove their capabilities and even so, bosses may still not think that they are as competent as men.
Social- Men in this country may be viewed as more weak and feminine as they uphold the nurturing role in the family
Economic – Jobs involving hard labour ( construction ) may face job openings not being filled . Women may also end up taking up previously higher position jobs that are usually taken up by men
Political- As stay home dad are emotionally bonded with the children already , there is less need for the government to intervene to try to bring the family closer.
I do agree that there might be a misconception that fathers may be subjected to, should they take up the role of a caregiver at home. Why do you think that this would arise? Do you think that this would continue further into the future?
Please elaborate on how women might take on higher positions than their male counterparts, and explain the significance of this in the society/workforce.
From history men has always been the one that provided and now its more of a “law of life” for men , so if one were to break that ” law ” he would most likely face criticism . This would probably continue into the future as traditions are not so easily broken .
The role of the father is changing tremendously from generation to generation. Previously, the father only had to be the breadwinner and that was their defined role. Nobody expected or wanted the fathers to be involved in raising the newborn baby. However, now the times have changed and the father is expected and encouraged to play a vital role in nurturing a child’s growth. This opens door to more flexibility for the mother. Socially, the father sees taking care of the baby before his other priorities.
What do you think are some implications of this shift in parental roles on the workforce? Do you think that your society is ready for this shift?
The authority of men is weakened in this case. However, i think the society is ready for this shift as the new generation is more open and flexible to new ideas and new ways. I think this shift is for the better as children will have happier childhood.
The first implication of this change would be on the society. Due to changing trends of the global forces, such as globalisation, the society is influenced by the resultant exposure to other foreign cultures and ideas. For example, women may be more educated and hence enjoy greater independence in life. This would result in increasing female participation in the workforce, skewing the work-life balance, especially if too much time is spent on work and less on the family. Such women may have families and children of their own. They provide more financial support for the family, but however, this is at the expense of lesser emotional support, since these women tend to spend more of their time on work. Hence, some fathers may decide to take up the role of the family’s emotional pillar, relieving working mothers of their traditional ‘motherly’ role. This may change existing family arrangements and structures, as well as the society’s perception of ‘Fathers as the sole breadwinner of the family’, as more fathers choose to take care of their young charge.
The second implication would be economical. If a significant number of fathers decide to stay at home to look after their children, it means that a portion of the workforce is now spending their time at home. Traditionally, it was the fathers who were the breadwinners of the family as they were expected to go out and work so as to provide for the family. However, due to changing trends of the modern world, as more women choose to work and inevitably spend lesser time at home, dads may choose to make up for the lack of emotional support in the family. The family might have a reduced purchasing power due to the absence of the salaries of the stay-at-home fathers. The country would have a smaller workforce as a result. This translates to lesser goods and services provided due to the reduced workforce. The country might have a smaller Gross Domestic Product, which is not desirable as Singapore emphasises on economic growth.
The final implication would be political in nature. When more women decide to work, they may skew their work-life balance. They may have lesser time left to take on the traditional ‘motherly’ duties such as taking care of the children and caring for their needs. Fathers may still opt to work as they do not want to give up their hard work painstakingly put in their careers. It shows the stiff competition among the society whereby the people place a high emphasis on their career so as to be able to bring more bread on the table for the family. This may lead children belonging to such parents to perceive that they are not loved or emotionally cared for by their parents. Depression or other related problems may arise. The children, especially the youth may decide to entertain themselves or with their friends through technology. Hence, the government may wish to play a hand in such scenarios so as to alleviate the problems brought upon by such stiff competition between members of society. Governments may choose to implement family-friendly policies such as reduced working hours for mothers earning a specific amount to be discussed in Parliament. Campaigns may also be held so that the society will realise the dangers they have brought upon themselves as a result of the stiff competition for wealth and finances. The children’s sentiments could be expressed in such nation-wide campaigns. However, if more fathers decide to stay at home, policies such as reduced taxes, could be implemented to relieve the financial strain these families may experience. Campaigns could be held to congratulate such fathers for their honourable act of taking up the traditional ‘motherly’ role in the family of taking care of their children, so that more fathers may decide to follow suit if their wives are working long hours and have less time for the family.
Would the country really face a smaller workforce if more women go out to work? Which sector are you talking about and why would it be affected?
Do you think that the issue of negligence is already present in your society today? How so?
BTW, good work on your points presented!
There is a changing role of father as the society evolved.
Socially, number of dual income families is increasing. This is because more and more females are educated and capable of working and earning incomes. This may turns in a more important role of a father at home, as to be the one who shares the responsibility of taking care of babies with his working wife. Furthermore, the society is more enlightened due to the technological advancement. This has improve the quality of life, standard of living as well as the flexibility of jobs. Hence, people would have more time and means to enjoy life such as spending more time with their families. Hence, there is an increasing trend of working population and companies attempting to enhance work-life balance in societies of many developed countries. [ work-life balance is a concept including proper prioritizing between “work” (career and ambition) and “lifestyle” (health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development/meditation).from kiwi pedia]. As a result of more leisure time and more family-friendly jobs, a dad’s role has changed, they tend to be more influential in nurturing their children as they can have more interaction with their children.
Assumption: Only one parent work in the family. Economically stable with one parent working.
Social: There will be more gender equality as either genders are now perceived as able to stay
and take care of the baby. Perception of the father as a sole breadwinner change.
Economic: There will be lack of male taking up labour intensive jobs that particular suits and prefers male such as the military, construction, civil service
Political: In Singapore, i think the government would want both parents to share the same amount of time on the children. Therefore, government would prefer that whether or not the male or female is staying at home, both should contribute to the development of the children. Therefore, the child can feel the warm of a complete family..
You mentioned the change in perception of the father in the society. How do you think the society would perceive women differently?
Most dad are indeed taking the role of a “housewife” now and it is the women who are out working. My uncle quit his high paid job to take care of his children and my aunt is the only on drawing an income. There is also a Chinese television program that talks about fathers being in charge, “Daddy at home”. I feel that fathers in Singapore need not quit their jobs yet can try to spend more time with the children. For instance during holidays, dedicate some time to know more about the child so that they will not grow apart. there are also childcare and maternity leave to allow more time off.
Man is usually the ones who are out working and i feel that we should keep to this as now there is increasing cost of living and standard of living where everyone is demanding more, a dual income is better. If there is only one working… I think that it will be difficult to sustain the daily expenses…
Women are gradually getting involved in politics and man at home. There will eventually be a switch of roles in the mother and father and the child now can only spent more time with the father and not the mother. Thus i feel that both parents must spend adequate time with their children.
I think it might be impossible to see a rising number of dads changing their roles in family if the society does not realise the crucial relationship between social well-being and economic well-being.
Money cannot buy happiness. . [Some information to be shared (http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/21/world/asia/singapore-least-happy/)%5D
Singapore has a competitive economy in which the economy develops extraordinarily well despite its limited natural resources. The crucial factors of its economic success are mainly trading, foreign investments and most importantly, its highly educated,skilled and knowledgeable people with high working capability. If Singaporeans slow down their working pace due to family, they may not be able to catch up with the global competition in terms of economic activities. To maintain the country’s high economic standing in the world and to keep Singaporeans’ employed, Singapore’s working population in which more than half of them are males or even dads, needs to work hard. This means Singaporeans may have to sacrifice their family time and the opportunities to stay with their children in order to sustain lives.
However, If the society could recognise the importance of work-life balance and how it will enhance the happiness and economic productivity of Singaporeans [ evidence shows that happiness affect productivity:http://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/35451%5D, there might be more facilities and policies setting up to promote a lifestyle with less stress from works and more happiness from families. Therefore, there could be more working fathers in Singapore choosing to work without neglecting their families, resulting an increase in the number of dads spending more time with their children.
In conclusion, money cannot buy happiness that is brought by your families, but the happiness you achieved from your family can “appreciate” the currency of the money you earned.
One economic implication would be the decreasing quality of the workforce in the society as the man stays at home and takes care of the children. This will have a negative impact on the country’s economic growth as the skilled people who can contribute to the economy are now not playing a part in contributing to the economy. However, it also known that the downturn of the economy is what is making the increase in the number of stay-at-home dads, but it is also not right for people to still assume that dads would only stay home if there were an economic reason- as if man would not care for the children by choice. Hence, there are different ways of looking at this particular effect of the increase in the number of stay-at-home dads.
One social implication would be that these stay-at-home dads may be viewed as incapable of being the sole breadwinner in the family. This will destroy their self-esteem and self-confidence and it’s very detrimental for the mental health of these dads.
One political implication would be that the government may offer government-sponsored paid leave to create more stay-at-home fathers and more attentive working fathers. Paid leave would attract more fathers to choose to stay at home and take care of their family instead of trying very hard to push for a better work-life balance.
If a more significant number of fathers take on such roles actively, the social impact would be ere could be more gender equality in the society. The traditional family today consists of a father who works and a mother who stays at home to take care of the house and children. However, if more fathers decide to stay home and take care of their children’s needs, more people would change their opinion of only women are allowed to stay at home to take care of the household needs. Capable women who have successful careers would be more confident to strive in their area of interest instead of being tied down to family commitments. Women will also have more say in this society. The economic impact of this issue would be that the workforce will consist of an equal number of men and women. Women are given the same opportunities to thrive to earn an income for their family.
Social:
From fathers’ sharing in the video, most of them would like to spend more time at home instead of regarding their word as the most important thing because they want to be around their children and wives and they enjoy the time when they are with their children. It is found that it will be good for children to build up good personality and character when they receive equal love and care from both parents. Therefore, when fathers are involved in taking care of children, children, as the future contributors of our society, will have a better sense of being a good person and giving back to society. At the same time, as families are bonded together more closely, the whole society will also be united because society is made up of different families.
Economic:
When fathers share the responsibility for the children, mothers will have more time and energy to put more effort in their work. Nowadays, there are a large number of housewives who have to stay at home all the time to take care of children. When these group of women can have the opportunities to work, the balance between men and women in workforce can be achieved. Also, mothers are able to support the family financially, so that fathers will not be too stressful.
Political:
In the past, the one who plays a more important role on political stage was always male. However, this situation could be changed when fathers are more involved in families. Women will not have to worry about children all the time, they will have chances to pay more attention on political affair. As male and female have different perspectives, it will be good when people from both gender come together and discuss about the same issue on policy.
For Singapore society:
A significant number of fathers here should decide to take on such a role more actively.
It is found that Singaporeans have rapid pace of life, most of people here feel very stressful especially at work place. When parents spend more time with their children, they can have a enjoyable time with their children and release the stress. At the same time, children can feel the love from both mother and father. With a culture which is most likely a transitional Chinese culture, parents, especially fathers, always find that it is difficult to show their love to their children. If they didn’t spend enough time with children, children will not feel close to them.
The role of men in families has changed drastically over the last three generations. According the U.S. Census, the number of “stay-at-home dads” has doubled over the last ten years. Also, nine out of ten dads say they are spending more time than their fathers actively engaging with their children (Smith, 2012). This shows that Fathers are no longer seen as just providers or occasional babysitters, but as actively engaged in their children’s emotional and daily lives, down to their routine care.
The first implication of this phenomenon would be social in nature. Dad as compared to the previous generations, are spending more time with their children in order to enjoy their fulfillment as a father. Children will be nurtured with the care of both parents as compared to the past when only the mother was responsible of taking care of the child at home. This would provide the child with the sensation of a more complete family. Therefore the children will have a better upbringing as they have both the care and attention of the parents. Children will grow up to be well nurtured adults who are beneficial to the society.
Secondly, in the economic aspect, dads spending more time with their children would mean less time for work. With the reduce in male work force, Singapre will face a decline in economic growth as it does not have the labour needed to sustain the economy. To face the shortage of labor, female counterparts have to step into the economy by spending less time with the children and take up jobs. However, due to the demand of Singapore’s economy and the high cost of living in Singapore, both the father and the mother have to work in order to provide a livelihood to the family. Resulting in shared responsibility from both the parents and grandparents to take care of the children. Only when a balance of work and family is achieved, both the father and mother are able to provide emotional care to their children while being the breadwinners of the family.
Lastly in the political aspect, with more stay home dads and more working mothers in the Singapore society. Male are no longer seen as the sole provider for the family, supporting male and female equity in Singapore. This equality in the sexes in Singapore’s culture can already be seen in our government, where woman are members of parliament and even ministers of the parliament. This show that Singapore society has abolished the traditional view of male dominationce in the leadership of Singapore. This is a positive implication because a fairer and just political system based on meritocracy has been created.