Number and Profile of Unwed Mothers

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong asked the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) what is the number of unwed mothers in each of the past five years; (b) what is their profile in terms of age, education and income; and (c) what is the youngest age of an unwed mother during this five-year period.

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Mr Chan Chun Sing: From 2007 to 2011, the average number of single parent births registered without the father's name was about 550 each year (refer to table below).

About 60% of these births were by mothers between the ages of 15 and 24 years old. 80% of the mothers had Secondary and below education. Data on their income levels are not available.

In the last five years, there was an average of seven cases a year, where the mother's age was below 15 years.