“A study on single mothers in Kuching”/ Awang Safarul Awang Najeri… [et. al.]

The Study on Single Mother: Kuching as a case study is designed to follow a group of more than 1,000 single mothers and their families and assess the single mother’s family development and well being. The goal of the study will be to determine the pathways leading to successful implementation of the government’s assistance programmes for the group. The Study aims are to (1) identify and characterize single mothers experiencing both positive and negative outcomes of their status; (2) understand the conditions shaping those outcomes; and (3) make strategic and tactical recommendations to improve the well being of Kuching single mothers and their liabilities and thereby benefit Sarawak society as a whole. The Study will provide ethnic-specific information to a variety of end- users. This is to support interventions and inform policy development to help address the many negative social statistics that face Kuching single mothers. This research will continue the programme of research aimed at identifying the needs of single mothers in Kuching and understanding how far the welfare and assistance programmes meet those needs in new social and economic policy environment. This will be pursued by investigating the constraints upon labour market participation experienced by single mothers presently living at or below the poverty threshold. Governments are shifting their focus from the delivery of outputs to influencing social, economic, environmental and cultural outcomes in communities. Government in Malaysia at local, state and federal levels are under pressure to be more responsiveness to both global and local issues such as single mothers Government strategic planning and policy provide an important vehicle through which community problems can be addressed. This research project develops an evaluative framework in order to benchmark existing government strategic planning and policy as well as welfare assistance its capability to deliver desired social and economic outcomes.