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Traditional norms of age, education in S'pore marriages changing with time

2021-07-08 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE - In marriage, the preference for an older and more educated husband is changing among couples here.

The proportion of first marriages involving a bride who is older than her husband increased from 16.7 per cent in 2010 to 17.9 per cent last year.

Most of the women were just one or two years older than their husbands, according to the Statistics of Marriages and Divorces 2020 released by the Department of Statistics on Wednesday (July 7).

But last year, among those marrying for the first time, 373 women wed a man who was between five and nine years younger than they were, while 53 women married a man younger by 10 years or more.

Another 18 per cent of couples in their first marriages were the same age, up from 14.4 per cent in 2010.

Meanwhile, the proportion of marriages involving a bride with higher educational qualifications than her husband increased from 17.2 per cent in 2010 to 18.6 per cent last year.

On the other hand, the share of marriages involving a groom who was more educated than his wife fell from 17.1 per cent in 2010 to 12.6 per cent last year.

The largest group of couples last year both had university qualifications, with 41.9 per cent of both bride and groom being university graduates, up from 31.3 per cent in 2010.

National University of Singapore Sociologist Tan Ern Ser said that the traditional norm is for the grooms to be older than their brides, but people are generally more accepting of the reverse these days.

Also, a woman who is marrying a less educated man may not necessarily be "marrying down", as educational levels may not always be an indicator of one's wealth, he said.

He said: "I believe there is also a value shift away from traditional norms regarding married partners. Perhaps love, compatibility, and wealth matter more than age."