Does Class Matter?

This book provides a comprehensive portrait of class structure, dynamics, and orientations in Singapore — understood as a new nation, a capitalist and emerging knowledge economy, a largely middle-class society, and a polity with a strong state — at the turn of the new millennium. It introduces a wide array of recent data on a broad range of topics relating to social stratification in Singapore: class structure, political participation, political alienation, national pride, welfarism, success values, unionism, social mobility, the digital divide, and the sandwich generation. To capture the lived experiences of people from different social classes, thereby complementing the numerous tables presented, the book also profiles six case studies of individuals or families, highlighting the challenges they face and the options they possess.