Cluster Projects

Chinese Children’s Sociopsychological Development

Description

This project examines how Chinese children’s sociopsychological well-being is shaped by family structure, parental socioeconomic characteristics, parenting behavior, and peers.

China’s Internal Migration, Family Relations, and Youth Development

Description

This project focuses on how China’s internal migration affects family dynamics between spouses, parent-child relationships, teenager’s educational experience, social skills and emotional well-being.

Projecting Urbanization and City Growth

Description

This project aims to improve projection of city and urban populations. Findings of the study could contribute towards the establishment of a standardised measure of urbanisation. This will, in turn, have a fundamental impact on managing rapid urbanisation and the related problems in Asian cities.

Economic Stress, Human Capital, and Families in Asia

Description

This project brings researchers, policy makers, and practitioners to examine the consequences of economic stress and the policy implications for human capital development and family well-being in Asia. The scope of this project goes beyond the impact of current financial crisis to include the effect of economic deprivation families experience as a result of marital dissolution, low-wage employment, or trying family events and circumstances such as illness or death of family members, or catastrophic natural calamities.

Transitioning to Adulthood in Asia: Courtship, Marriage, and Work

Description

This project aims to understand “early adulthood” a distinct life stage that has emerged in the last several decades as the ending of adolescence has protracted and economic and psychological autonomy have taken longer to achieve for most young people now than half a century ago. We study early adulthood in distinct and diverse socioeconomic, demographic, cultural and policy contexts and the causes and consequences of trends in education, work and family formation.

Shifting Boundaries of Care in Asia

Description

The project examines how the boundaries of care provision have shifted between the family, state, market, and voluntary sector over time and across different regions in Asia. We detail recent changes and reforms in care provision for the Asian elderly and young children from a variety of angles and explore the implications of these changes in care policies and practices for the economic development, the family institution, and social stratification by class and gender in Asia.

Completed Projects

State Boundaries, Cultural Politics and Gender Negotiations in Commercially Arranged International Marriages in Singapore and Malaysia

The aim of this project is to examine the phenomenon of international marriages in contemporary Singapore and Malaysia, focusing primarily on Chinese Singaporean and Malaysian men marrying Vietnamese and mainland Chinese women through commercial matchmaking agencies.  A contrast will be provided by juxtaposing these marriages with (1) Indian Singaporean and Malaysian men marrying women from India through the traditional kinship networks, and (2) foreign migrant workers marrying citizens. The project will run for three years, from May 2008 to April 2011.

Unmarried Crisis – the Rising Trend of Singlehood among Chinese Singaporeans

This project attempts to understand the trend of increasing proportion of adults remaining single in Singapore and in China. Ethnographic work and national statistics will be used to understand factors that shape people’s decisions on family formation.

Fatherhood in 21st Century Asia: Research, Interventions, and Policies

This project will provide a platform for scholars and policy makers to discuss issues related to the trend, determinants, and consequences of father involvement, as well as policies and interventions that engage men in family lives in Asia. We aim to gain a better understanding about (1) the nature of Asian men’s diverse roles and challenges they face in becoming involved in their children’s lives, (2) diverse policies and practice-based interventions related to fatherhood in Asian countries.

"Study Mothers" in Singapore

This project focuses on pei du ma ma ("study mothers") from China as part of a transnational family form in the context of Singapore's globalization.

Indonesian young adults facing the future

This project focuses on changes in marriage in Southeast Asia and their relationship to poverty. The project consists of 6 sub-projects in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, and is funded by the Ford Foundation, Indonesia. Although the project ended in September 2008, a book reporting on its findings is under production.

Asian Marriage Research Network

The Asian Marriage Research Network is composed of researchers who actively discuss current research issues taking place in the sphere of family and marriage.

Changing Marriage in Southeast Asia

This project focuses on the behaviour, values and life situations of young adults between the ages of 20 and 34. Using quantitative and qualitative data collection approaches, it will assess how they deal with their sexuality, living arrangements, mobility, education and work, marriage relationships, family formation and personal human capital development. The project aims to determine the extent to which changes in lifestyle and the forces of globalisation are changing the sorts of choices young people are making. The project is being conducted in collaboration with the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute and the Centre for Health Research, University of Indonesia.