But in a signal that this situation is unlikely to last, the survey found that the more liberal and contemporary a woman was, the more likely she was to be unhappy with such a state of affairs. The average age of the women in the survey was 41 years and they had secondary education at the least. Dr Straughan argued that it was not how many domestic chores a woman did that determines if she was happy in her marriage. Rather, it was the way she viewed her role as wife and mother. There are women who do everything but are very happy as they find tremendous satisfaction in running their households.
Most Singaporean women tend to have conservative views about their role as wife and mother.
Four out of five women felt that it was better for the husband to be the breadwinner, and the wife the homemaker. Nine in 10 thought that a good wife was one who took care of her husband, children and home. Most also said that ideally, a mother should care for her children full-time. These findings are similar to last year's survey by Associate Professor Stella Quah, which showed that 91 per cent of those surveyed felt that the working woman's primary responsibility was to the home. But women have more liberal views about their role in the workplace.