Transnational divorces in Singapore: experiences of low-income divorced marriage migrant women

ABSTRACT

Global economic restructuring saw the dramatic expansion of feminised labour and extensive mobilisation of women from less wealthy to wealthier countries to supply reproductive labour. Some migrant women perform unpaid reproductive labour through marriage migration in their roles as wives, mothers and daughters-in-law. The paper seeks to understand the divorce experiences of low-income marriage migrant women in Singapore after their marriage with Singaporean husband has ended. By engaging theorisations on transnational families, the paper discusses the transnational aspects of the women’s divorce biographies. Using empirical data collected through in-depth interviews, this article examines how the women work out their transnational divorce biographies in these three areas: one, coping with divorce proceedings and obtaining legal representation; two, working out the rights to remain in Singapore and other livelihood issues; and three, negotiate with ex-spouse over post-divorce co-parenting arrangements. To avoid framing the women’s experiences in ‘victim versus agent’ binary terms, the paper examines both their struggles and strategies using a transnational, intersectional feminist framework. This analytical perspective allows the paper to discuss how unequal effects of globalisation and intersection of the women’s social identities shape their divorce trajectories, in terms of the struggles they face and strategies they employ.

KEYWORDS:

• Transnational divorce
• divorce biography
• marriage migrant women
• transnational feminist perspectives
• intersectional feminist perspectives
• Singapore

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The research project, ‘An exploratory study on Singaporean divorcees from transnational marriages’ received research funding from Singapore Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Social and Family Research Fund during the period of 2014–2016. The Author of this chapter acknowledges that the Ministry does not endorse the project findings, methods or results in any way, and that any views, findings or results arising from the Research Project in this article are strictly the Author’s own.

2 According to official statistics, the median gross monthly income from work, including Employer Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution of full-time employed Singaporean residents in 2015 is SGD3,949 (MOM 2016b). Employer CPF contribution is at 17% of wage. Therefore, the median gross monthly income from work, excluding Employer CPF contribution in 2015 is estimated to be approximately SGD3375 (annual income at an approximate amount of SGD40,500).

3 Willing Hearts is a non-profit organisation in Singapore that operates a soup kitchen and distributes daily meals to low-income families and migrant workers.

4 Singapore citizen husbands could withdraw sponsorship of their foreign spouse’s LTVP. Short extensions of their current visit passes, if they are undergoing divorce proceedings, may be given on a case by case basis and based on individual merit. According to government sources, for those who are divorced and have sole custody of young Singaporean children, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore would generally facilitate their continuing stay in Singapore through a renewable LTVP so as to enable them to care for and raise their Singapore citizen children here. However, it is unclear what specific qualifications divorcing foreign spouses would need to warrant short extensions or renewals of their visit passes. The criteria for assessing the length of extensions granted is also unclear.