MEMBERSHIP, EXPENDITURE & ACTIVITIES OF THE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT UNIT

Mr Heng Chiang Meng asked the Minister for Finance if he will state, for each of the years 1988 to 1990, (i) the total membership of the Social Development Unit; (ii) the number of marriages between members; (iii) the total expenditure, including subsidies of activities; (iv) the average expenditure per marriage; and (v) the average ages of the male and female members who married, compared with the national averages in the same period.

Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau: (i) Membership in SDU for the years 1988 to 1990 was as follows:- TABLE 1 Year No of Members (as at Dec 31) 1988 7,951 1989 9,559 1990 10,911 The 10,911 members in SDU represent 39% of the total single graduate population.

(ii) The numbers of marriages between members for the same years were:- TABLE 2 Year No of Marriages No of Marriages For the Year (Cumulative from 1985) 1988 214 625 1989 239 864 1990 253 1,117 Since the unit was set up in 1984 up to the end of 1990, 2,234 SDU members were married.

(iii) The total expenditure, including subsidies of activities for each of the years 1988 to 1990:- SDU organises a range of activities including social activities, sporting activities, courses for self development and workshops. SDU's current policy is to charge participants a small margin over direct variable cost, excluding administrative overheads. However, in the initial years, workshops in resorts in neighbouring countries were subsidised fully, to kick off the project. This subsidy was gradually reduced as SDU gained wider acceptance. Such workshops have been discontinued since November 1990. For the last 3 years, an average of 211 activities each year were organised with an average 9,832 attendances per year. Total collection from these activities averaged $460,337 per annum against an annual direct variable cost of $466,253. The subsidy was $5,916 per year.

(iv) The average expenditure per marriage for the years 1988 to 1990:- SDU's recurrent budget and the number of marriages for the 3 years were: TABLE 3 Year Budget No of Marriages 1988 $803,924 214 1989 $818,835 239 1990 $824,623 253 The average expenditure of a marriage between SDU members was $3,471.00 or $1,735.50 per member. This is but a rough indication. The impact of SDU's efforts is not confined only to its members. Spinoffs from SDU programmes and activities have benefitted non-members as well. SDU programmes and activities create awareness of the importance of marriage and encourage all graduates to socialise early. Over a period of 7 years, the number of graduate marriages at the national level increased to 1,362, a 150% increase over the figure of 529 marriages in 1983, the year before SDU was formed.

(v) The average ages of the male and female members who married, compared with the national averages in the same period - The national ages of brides and grooms in the SDU pool as compared to national mean age are as follows:- TABLE 4 Grooms 1988 1989 1990 (years) (years) (years) SDU pool 31.5 31.4 31.5 National 29.9 29.6 29.9 Brides SDU pool 28.8 28.7 29.2 National 27.3 27.2 27.4 In comparison the mean age of SDU's brides and grooms is about 1.5 years above the national average. In the long term we expect a lowering of the ages to the national averages because members joining SDU are getting younger than before.