CUSTODY OF CHILDREN IN DIVORCES

CUSTODY OF CHILDREN IN DIVORCES

8.

Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) how many women were given custody of their children in divorce proceedings in 2008; (b) what was the average number of children that each had custody of; and (c) what was the average age of the children.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Last year, 57% (or 3,627 out of 6,328) civil divorce writs filed involved children below the age of 21. Detailed statistics on the age of the children and which parent had custody of them is currently unavailable.

With regard to Muslim divorces last year, 66% (or 1132 out of 1696) divorces involved children below the age of 21. Of these Muslim divorce cases, 62% (or 703) were cases where the woman was awarded custody of the children. The remaining 38% were cases where custody was either awarded to the father or to both parents under joint custody. On average, each woman or man had custody of approximately two children and the average age of each child was 11 years old.