Sometimes inequality is portrayed as the problem of a few who can't keep up — but what if it's de... more Sometimes inequality is portrayed as the problem of a few who can't keep up — but what if it's deeply built into what it means to get ahead? In this exclusive release of chapter one from the bestselling This Is What Inequality Looks Like, Teo You Yenn details why tackling inequality seriously demands that we change how we think about success — both success as a nation, and the success of those who thrive under "meritocracy".
This is an excerpt from a new book by Teo You Yenn, associate professor and head of sociology at ... more This is an excerpt from a new book by Teo You Yenn, associate professor and head of sociology at Nanyang Technological University.
Scholars have documented the challenges of combining wage work and care responsibilities in vario... more Scholars have documented the challenges of combining wage work and care responsibilities in various societal contexts. National variations reveal that public policy and care infrastructure have major effects in shaping gendered patterns, class inequalities, as well as overall wellbeing of parents. Childcare centers and schools can enable people with children to pursue jobs and careers. Yet, as I show in this article, education systems' demands can become a major component of parental care labor. Drawing on interviews with 92 parents in Singapore, I illustrate the ways in which education care labor impedes work-life reconciliation as well as deepens the significance of gender and class.
Authors: NG, Kok Hoe; TEO, You Yenn; NEO, Yu Wei; Ad MAULOD; TING Yi Ting
In this study, we cond... more Authors: NG, Kok Hoe; TEO, You Yenn; NEO, Yu Wei; Ad MAULOD; TING Yi Ting
In this study, we conducted focus group discussions to ascertain how ordinary Singaporeans think about what constitutes basic needs in Singapore today, and to determine the household budgets necessary to meet these needs. We focused on four household types: (1) male, 65 years and older, living alone; (2) female, 65 years and older, living alone; (3) couple, 65 years old and older, living together; (4) male or female, 55-64 years old, living alone.
Participants put together household budgets that:
Reflect the lived realities and ordinary habits of people living in contemporary Singapore. A general public can agree on as basic or minimum—it should be neither extravagant nor inadequate. Reflects some degree of diverse needs along ethnoracial and religious lines. Embodies the values and principles ordinary Singaporeans embody, as well as concrete and specific items that map onto those values and principles.
Scholars have highlighted the multiple dimensions of care and its intersections with migratory pa... more Scholars have highlighted the multiple dimensions of care and its intersections with migratory patterns to collectively show that there are wide-ranging and sometimes unintended consequences to the global intensification of migrant care labor. This article focuses not on migrant workers themselves, nor on people who hire them. Instead, it throws into the mix a class of people who do not have access to migrant care workers, but who nonetheless live in a society where norms and standards are set by people who do. I argue that under the current work–care–migration regime in Singapore, low-income families’ needs are overlooked. As feminist scholars and activists challenge existing state policies, societal norms, and corporate practices, we must continually insert into conversation the question of class variations and inequalities. The article makes the case for an expanded view in thinking about the effects of paid domestic work on public policy and the wellbeing of various groups in society and along the global care chain.
Reflecting on her experience researching poor families in Singapore, sociologist YOUYENN TEO argu... more Reflecting on her experience researching poor families in Singapore, sociologist YOUYENN TEO argues for a clearer focus on systemic inequality.
Teo, You Yenn. 2016. “Undoing Differentiated Deservedness.” Pp. 258-64 in Singapore Dreaming: Man... more Teo, You Yenn. 2016. “Undoing Differentiated Deservedness.” Pp. 258-64 in Singapore Dreaming: Managing Utopia, edited by H. Koon Wee and Jeremy Chia. Singapore: Asian Urban Lab.
Sometimes inequality is portrayed as the problem of a few who can't keep up — but what if it's de... more Sometimes inequality is portrayed as the problem of a few who can't keep up — but what if it's deeply built into what it means to get ahead? In this exclusive release of chapter one from the bestselling This Is What Inequality Looks Like, Teo You Yenn details why tackling inequality seriously demands that we change how we think about success — both success as a nation, and the success of those who thrive under "meritocracy".
This is an excerpt from a new book by Teo You Yenn, associate professor and head of sociology at ... more This is an excerpt from a new book by Teo You Yenn, associate professor and head of sociology at Nanyang Technological University.
Scholars have documented the challenges of combining wage work and care responsibilities in vario... more Scholars have documented the challenges of combining wage work and care responsibilities in various societal contexts. National variations reveal that public policy and care infrastructure have major effects in shaping gendered patterns, class inequalities, as well as overall wellbeing of parents. Childcare centers and schools can enable people with children to pursue jobs and careers. Yet, as I show in this article, education systems' demands can become a major component of parental care labor. Drawing on interviews with 92 parents in Singapore, I illustrate the ways in which education care labor impedes work-life reconciliation as well as deepens the significance of gender and class.
Authors: NG, Kok Hoe; TEO, You Yenn; NEO, Yu Wei; Ad MAULOD; TING Yi Ting
In this study, we cond... more Authors: NG, Kok Hoe; TEO, You Yenn; NEO, Yu Wei; Ad MAULOD; TING Yi Ting
In this study, we conducted focus group discussions to ascertain how ordinary Singaporeans think about what constitutes basic needs in Singapore today, and to determine the household budgets necessary to meet these needs. We focused on four household types: (1) male, 65 years and older, living alone; (2) female, 65 years and older, living alone; (3) couple, 65 years old and older, living together; (4) male or female, 55-64 years old, living alone.
Participants put together household budgets that:
Reflect the lived realities and ordinary habits of people living in contemporary Singapore. A general public can agree on as basic or minimum—it should be neither extravagant nor inadequate. Reflects some degree of diverse needs along ethnoracial and religious lines. Embodies the values and principles ordinary Singaporeans embody, as well as concrete and specific items that map onto those values and principles.
Scholars have highlighted the multiple dimensions of care and its intersections with migratory pa... more Scholars have highlighted the multiple dimensions of care and its intersections with migratory patterns to collectively show that there are wide-ranging and sometimes unintended consequences to the global intensification of migrant care labor. This article focuses not on migrant workers themselves, nor on people who hire them. Instead, it throws into the mix a class of people who do not have access to migrant care workers, but who nonetheless live in a society where norms and standards are set by people who do. I argue that under the current work–care–migration regime in Singapore, low-income families’ needs are overlooked. As feminist scholars and activists challenge existing state policies, societal norms, and corporate practices, we must continually insert into conversation the question of class variations and inequalities. The article makes the case for an expanded view in thinking about the effects of paid domestic work on public policy and the wellbeing of various groups in society and along the global care chain.
Reflecting on her experience researching poor families in Singapore, sociologist YOUYENN TEO argu... more Reflecting on her experience researching poor families in Singapore, sociologist YOUYENN TEO argues for a clearer focus on systemic inequality.
Teo, You Yenn. 2016. “Undoing Differentiated Deservedness.” Pp. 258-64 in Singapore Dreaming: Man... more Teo, You Yenn. 2016. “Undoing Differentiated Deservedness.” Pp. 258-64 in Singapore Dreaming: Managing Utopia, edited by H. Koon Wee and Jeremy Chia. Singapore: Asian Urban Lab.
Work–life balance has come to the fore in Singapore as in other countries. Debates have focused o... more Work–life balance has come to the fore in Singapore as in other countries. Debates have focused on uneven gendered burdens. Less attention has been paid to the ways in which class matters in shaping outcomes for women. In this article, I argue that the work-care regime in Singapore is one that generates uneven consequences for women along class lines. The historical legacy of eugenics-influenced pronatalism, the pursuit of a corporation-centric development, the persistent reticence toward universal provisions and corresponding preference for ‘private’ solutions to care create a context in which women in low-income households have an especially hard time balancing wage work and familial responsibilities. The individualization and marketization of household needs, in Singapore and elsewhere, obscure the circumstances, needs, and well-being of women in lower class circumstances, and undermine the value of housework and care labor.
Cover and tables of contents.
Available at: http://www.worldscientific.com
Teo, Youyenn. 2015. "... more Cover and tables of contents. Available at: http://www.worldscientific.com
Teo, Youyenn. 2015. "Childbearing in Singapore—Do we have real choices?" Pp. 217-226 in Our Lives to Live: Putting a Woman’s Face to Change in Singapore, edited by Kanwaljit Soin and Margaret Thomas. Singapore: World Scientific.
As population demographics change and economic crises spread and deepen, welfare reform has becom... more As population demographics change and economic crises spread and deepen, welfare reform has become an urgent problem in many developed countries. As elsewhere in East Asia, the state in Singapore has in recent years stepped up its efforts to deal with issues of healthcare, education, support for care, retirement and even unemployment. Much of this has been in response to demographic shifts, economic trends and, importantly, political pressures. This article evaluates the possibilities and limits of recent reforms. It looks at some promising aspects of reform, such as increases in spending in certain areas, before examining the limitations of the reforms. These include the fact that most resources have been directed toward supporting businesses, while increases in direct spending on citizens have been limited and conditional
rather than universal; furthermore, little or no attention has been paid to the issue of women’s underemployment. These features suggest constraints within the logic and principles of welfare, which continue to define citizens as having limited rights and entitlements, and citizenship as entailing regular
employment and heavy obligations toward the family. The analysis of reforms sheds light on how the appearance of expansion can mask continuing limitations. The case of Singapore illustrates the importance of looking not just at expenditure but also at the principles and logics in which welfare reforms are embedded, in a variety of national contexts.
TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia , Jan 14, 2015
The familialist orientations of the Singapore state on issues of social welfare ought not be take... more The familialist orientations of the Singapore state on issues of social welfare ought not be taken for granted as static reflections of ‘culture’. Instead, it is a dynamic realm, and a useful site for analysing how and what sorts of state-society relations are forged. We can, moreover, deepen our understanding of governance in Singapore by looking beyond repression and discrimination and paying more attention to the processes of production and differentiation. In this article, I draw on examples from housing, healthcare, and childcare support, to understand how specific social identities and practices are marked as deserving public support. I argue that the logic and practices embedded in policies – what I call ‘differentiated deservedness’ – can be read as a productive and profound form of governance in which specific performances of the familial are generated, and through which norms about state-society relations and citizenship are forged. Scholars and activists who are oriented toward expanding social security and social justice should scrutinise reforms for the extent to which the logic of differentiated deservedness persists or changes.
Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & …, Sep 2013
The (ideological) aversion many states in Asia have toward universal welfare has led to the devel... more The (ideological) aversion many states in Asia have toward universal welfare has led to the development of various solutions that depend on the valorization of the familial. This tends toward limiting state expenditure on public goods. The unevenness and inequalities produced and reproduced by the state's reliance on particular family forms—with its specific connotations around class, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality—also result in particular hierarchies and principles of division within the society. This paper challenges the assumption embedded in much current scholarship that it is “culture” that determines what states can and cannot do in the realm of public provisions. Instead, it interrogates how states produce and reproduce particular visions of the family through their approach toward welfare, and how this more broadly shapes and reproduces social inequalities in state–society relations.
Baby bonuses, tax incentives and other policies devised by the Singapore state to encourage marri... more Baby bonuses, tax incentives and other policies devised by the Singapore state to encourage marriage and boost fertility have attracted much attention: on one hand, demographers have pointed to their limited effects in reversing demographic trends.
On the other hand, they are taken as evidence of a strong state with huge capacity for ‘social engineering’. These two contrasting perspectives suggest that the state’s effects are more complex than either view captures. The article brings together the two ‘truths’ about family policies to demonstrate the full range of its effects. Drawing on in-depth interview data, it shows that negotiations of the structural context produced by family policies generate self-consciously Singaporean meanings and normative practices, at the same time that they clarify and legitimize the state’s often paradoxical positions towards the family. Ultimately, family policies give ideological and practical content to both ‘state’ and ‘society’.
Ordinary Singaporeans have an understanding of what it means to lead meaningful and flourishing l... more Ordinary Singaporeans have an understanding of what it means to lead meaningful and flourishing lives as part of a wider society. But this social sense is overwhelmed by institutional signals that life is an individual hustle. If Singapore’s leaders are seeking a new social compact for a changed world, they would need to embark on radical reforms to redress the balance between self-interest and solidarity.
This is the edited text of a speech delivered at the Singapore Economic Policy Forum on 18 October 2022.
Text of speech delivered at Singaporean Researchers Global Summit, National University of Singapo... more Text of speech delivered at Singaporean Researchers Global Summit, National University of Singapore, August 7, 2019.
Children from low-income households face many challenges. They struggle with school, are more likely to end up in low-wage jobs, and sometimes become young parents. How are we to make sense of the challenges they face, and how are we to think of solutions?
Teo, You Yenn. 2018. “Small road, big road, personal roads, shared roads.” Pp. 208-11 in The Birt... more Teo, You Yenn. 2018. “Small road, big road, personal roads, shared roads.” Pp. 208-11 in The Birthday Book: The Roads We Take, edited by Cheryl Chung and Aaron Maniam. Singapore: The Birthday Collective.
Published as:
Teo, Youyenn. 2018. “Falling Short: Class and the Performance of the Familial.” Pp.... more Published as: Teo, Youyenn. 2018. “Falling Short: Class and the Performance of the Familial.” Pp. 96-111 in Family and Population Change in Singapore: A unique case in the global family changes, edited by Wei-Jun Jean Yeung and Shu Hu. London: Routledge.
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In this study, we conducted focus group discussions to ascertain how ordinary Singaporeans think about what constitutes basic needs in Singapore today, and to determine the household budgets necessary to meet these needs. We focused on four household types: (1) male, 65 years and older, living alone; (2) female, 65 years and older, living alone; (3) couple, 65 years old and older, living together; (4) male or female, 55-64 years old, living alone.
Participants put together household budgets that:
Reflect the lived realities and ordinary habits of people living in contemporary Singapore.
A general public can agree on as basic or minimum—it should be neither extravagant nor inadequate.
Reflects some degree of diverse needs along ethnoracial and religious lines.
Embodies the values and principles ordinary Singaporeans embody, as well as concrete and specific items that map onto those values and principles.
regime in Singapore, low-income families’ needs are overlooked. As feminist scholars and activists challenge existing state policies, societal norms, and corporate practices, we must continually insert into conversation the question of class variations and inequalities. The article makes the case for an expanded view in thinking about the effects of paid domestic work on public policy and the wellbeing of various groups in society and along the global care chain.
Cover and Table of Contents.
Book available at: http://www.selectbooks.com.sg
In this study, we conducted focus group discussions to ascertain how ordinary Singaporeans think about what constitutes basic needs in Singapore today, and to determine the household budgets necessary to meet these needs. We focused on four household types: (1) male, 65 years and older, living alone; (2) female, 65 years and older, living alone; (3) couple, 65 years old and older, living together; (4) male or female, 55-64 years old, living alone.
Participants put together household budgets that:
Reflect the lived realities and ordinary habits of people living in contemporary Singapore.
A general public can agree on as basic or minimum—it should be neither extravagant nor inadequate.
Reflects some degree of diverse needs along ethnoracial and religious lines.
Embodies the values and principles ordinary Singaporeans embody, as well as concrete and specific items that map onto those values and principles.
regime in Singapore, low-income families’ needs are overlooked. As feminist scholars and activists challenge existing state policies, societal norms, and corporate practices, we must continually insert into conversation the question of class variations and inequalities. The article makes the case for an expanded view in thinking about the effects of paid domestic work on public policy and the wellbeing of various groups in society and along the global care chain.
Cover and Table of Contents.
Book available at: http://www.selectbooks.com.sg
legacy of eugenics-influenced pronatalism, the pursuit of a corporation-centric development, the persistent reticence toward universal provisions and corresponding preference for ‘private’ solutions to care create a context in which women in low-income households have an especially hard time
balancing wage work and familial responsibilities. The individualization and marketization of household needs, in Singapore and elsewhere, obscure the circumstances, needs, and well-being of women in lower class circumstances, and undermine the value of housework and care labor.
Available at: http://www.worldscientific.com
Teo, Youyenn. 2015. "Childbearing in Singapore—Do we have real choices?" Pp. 217-226 in Our Lives to Live: Putting a Woman’s Face to Change in Singapore, edited by Kanwaljit Soin and Margaret Thomas. Singapore: World Scientific.
rather than universal; furthermore, little or no attention has been paid to the issue of women’s underemployment. These features suggest constraints within the logic and principles of welfare, which continue to define citizens as having limited rights and entitlements, and citizenship as entailing regular
employment and heavy obligations toward the family. The analysis of reforms sheds light on how the appearance of expansion can mask continuing limitations. The case of Singapore illustrates the importance of looking not just at expenditure but also at the principles and logics in which welfare reforms are embedded, in a variety of national contexts.
On the other hand, they are taken as evidence of a strong state with huge capacity for ‘social engineering’. These two contrasting perspectives suggest that the state’s effects are more complex than either view captures. The article brings together the two ‘truths’ about family policies to demonstrate the full range of its effects. Drawing on in-depth interview data, it shows that negotiations of the structural context produced by family policies generate self-consciously Singaporean meanings and normative practices, at the same time that they clarify and legitimize the state’s often paradoxical positions towards the family. Ultimately, family policies give ideological and practical content to both ‘state’ and ‘society’.
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/lack-of-social-mixing-is-a-symptom-of-inequality-not-a-cause
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/lets-talk-about-meeting-needs-not-just-equality-of-opportunity
This is the edited text of a speech delivered at the Singapore Economic Policy Forum on 18 October 2022.
Children from low-income households face many challenges. They struggle with school, are more likely to end up in low-wage jobs, and sometimes become young parents. How are we to make sense of the challenges they face, and how are we to think of solutions?
“Step 1: Disrupt the narrative,” presented at Roundtable “Let’s Talk #2: Poverty and Inequality in Singapore,” Singapore, May 28, 2016.
Teo, Youyenn. 2018. “Falling Short: Class and the Performance of the Familial.” Pp. 96-111 in Family and Population Change in Singapore: A unique case in the global family changes, edited by Wei-Jun Jean Yeung and Shu Hu. London: Routledge.