Life in an affluent globalized city: Working age Singaporeans' current perspectives and future expectation

Many things about Singapore are unique. Affluence. Multiculturalism. Form of government. Speed of change. Singapore is also unique in that it has one of the most rapidly aging populations in the world, but no formal pension system to provide retirement income. The speed at which Singapore developed, combined with its character as a developmental welfare state that emphasizes economic growth over social welfare and the strong tradition of filial piety create a unique framework for understanding the perspectives and expectations of working aged individuals in one of the world's most prosperous countries.;This dissertation aims to develop an understanding of the perspectives of working age Singaporeans. The first empirical chapter assesses current life satisfaction of working aged adults. The second empirical chapter examines where Singaporeans locate responsibility for later-life provision. The third empirical chapter looks at retirement migration intentions asking where working aged Singaporeans see themselves in the future. Findings from this study suggest that Singaporeans are generally satisfied with their lives, although specific areas of dissatisfaction with life in Singapore were identified. While most of my respondents reported that individuals and families should be the primary source of later life provision, many also believed that the government of Singapore should do more to address the needs of elderly citizens. Consistent with research elsewhere that finds that most older people do not move (or move far) in retirement, neither did most working age Singaporeans expect to do that. But nearly one quarter of individuals in my sample thought they might spend their retirement years outside of Singapore. Together, my findings suggest that there is a high level of satisfaction with lives in Singapore, but that pressures associated with rapid social change and expensive cost of living are expressed in the perspectives and expectations of working age Singaporeans. While the footprint of Singapore's developmental welfare state predominates, there is also evidence that expectations that government, and not just families and individuals, should be responsible for providing for elderly people.