Women in Singapore feel less satisfied, less empowered vs AsiaPac peers

Personal well-being also lower than average.

While women in Singapore are optimistic on overall well-being, scoring highest on ‘Safety from Threats’ and lowest on ‘Personal Well Being on the inaugural MasterCard Index of Well-Being, they also revealed vulnerabilities in satisfaction and sense of empowerment.

Compared to their Asia-Pacific counterparts, Singapore falls slightly behind in the index at 61.4 compared to 62.7, with women across Asia-Pacific conversely least optimistic on ‘Safety from Threats’.

Even though women in Singapore are buoyant on all categories, particular areas of ‘Satisfaction’, ‘Personal Well Being’ and ‘Sense of Empowerment’ categories fell below the Asia-Pacific womens’ average, the survey revealed.

Notably on ‘Personal Well Being’, women in Singapore were most affected by family stress (48.6), followed by health concerns (52.5), work stress (61.1) and financial stress (63.2). This trend deviated slightly from women across Asia-Pacific where the average woman was most affected by health concerns (56), before family stress (56.3).

When it came to ‘Personal and Work Satisfaction’, women in Singapore were most optimistic of their life situation in five years (62.8), reflecting what the average woman in Asia-Pacific were also optimistic about. In contrast, the average woman in Asia-Pacific was least optimistic about their present life situation, while women in Singapore were least optimistic about satisfaction in work-life balance (57.3).

In ‘Sense of Empowerment’, women in Singapore feel most optimistic about their opinions being valued among friends and colleagues (61.3). This is followed by women in Singapore optimistic that their opinions at home are valued on both non-financial (65.5) and financial decisions (63.2). They are least optimistic about empowerment at work (59.5). This tracks closely to the trend in Asia-Pacific, where women are most optimistic that their opinions at home are valued on both non-financial (70.4) and financial decisions (68.9), followed by friends and colleagues (66.9) and finally empowerment (63.6).

“While women in Singapore feel confident and in control of their future, the various responsibilities that they shoulder – managing the home and work life, for example – places some degree of pressure on them. As we celebrate International Women’s Day, it’s good to bear in mind the need for understanding and support for the women in our society, who see having a balance as a key component for life satisfaction,” said Ms. Julienne Loh, General Manager, Singapore, MasterCard.

The Index, based on a survey of 16 Asia Pacific markets, aims to measure the level of well-being among nations by examining the impact of wide-ranging factors such as work-life balance, cyber-crime and disease outbreak on respondents.

In the lead-up to International Women’s Day, MasterCard is releasing a special edition of the research focusing on women’s well-being. The research covered women’s attitudes towards five categories: ‘Work and Finances’, ‘Safety from Threats’, ‘Personal and Work Satisfaction’, ‘Personal Well Being’ and ‘Sense of Empowerment’. The Index is calculated with zero as the most pessimistic, 100 as most optimistic and 50 as neutral, and respondents’ thoughts on the six months ahead.