Retrospective Study

Youths who were with Beyond in the

‘80s and ‘90s

“By 2025, every child and youth in Singapore,

despite a disadvantaged background has the

opportunity to refuse a lifestyle of delinquency

and welfare dependency.”

Aims

To understand

• the current life situation of previous youth

• how Beyond impacted their lives

• their experiences in Beyond

1. Current life situation

Hard indicators, well being & social capital

Current hard indicatorsIncome per capita Education

74% of them have more than $450 per capita

57% obtained a secondary school

qualification or higher

Employment Conflict with the Law

73% are working full time or part time

74% reported never being in conflict with the law

Income Education Employment LawBased on national benchmarks - 74% of them are out of poverty

Based on subjective reports- 60% report being comfortable financially

On average, beneficiaries obtained a secondary school level education.

No significant correlation between education level and income/ income per capita

73.3% are working full time or part time.

Of the 8 that are not working, 4 were not looking for work.

They reported either having enough money to not work, or the need to look after children.

26% of the participants reported having been in conflict with the law

Of this, half had gotten into trouble with the law once, while the other half had gotten into trouble with the law a number of times

No one had gotten in trouble with the law in the past year

ChallengesAlmost all participants (except 1) who reported challenges reported at least 1 health related problem.

33%

67%

No problems1 or more problem

Subjective well-being

Despite these challenges, 90% of the participants reported being ‘moderately’ satisfied in the past 12 months.

Social Capital

• 20% - stability in employment, education, or staying

out of trouble with the law

• 56% - relationship with significant others,

successes of their children/ nieces/ nephews,

having a new child.

“What were the positive things that you experienced in the past 12 months?”

“When I sad also I will look at these four.… than I have the courage from the eldest ones. Now they are like my friends”

“Our time we cannot even afford. What we have every day in our table is plain porridge’. – an ex-youth, a mother now, who’s children are in UK to pursue their further education.

About children :

Sources of Social CapitalFriends, Family and Community Participation

• Most respondents reported about 4.33 individuals whom they

could turn to for help among their family and friends (2.1 from

family, and 2.23 from friends).

• Most participants (86.7%) reported helping their neighbourhood

or community in one or more ways

• Participants were generally not that close to their neighbours

(citing none or limited contact).

ResilienceIn some inspiring cases, it was the hardships they had gone through that turned their lives around….

After serving his term in the prison PC wants to give himself a chance, take responsibility for his family and lead a life of contentment and dignity.

“Achieved something (within me) … now rather than give up I will try, I will try … but last time I all give up, la. Now, just live out life better than last time la.”

2. How Beyond impacted their lives

On a scale

“How helpful was Beyond?”

1 (least helpful) <------------------------ > 5 (most helpful)

ImprovingFinancial situation

Pursuing education

Staying out of trouble with the law

Improving family relationships

3.78 (quite helpful)

4.11 (helpful)

3.88 (quite helpful)

3.42 (quite helpful)

“What do you remember most about Beyond?”

• Staff or volunteers that had a special role in

their lives

• Specific activities (camps, magic shows)

• The friends they made here

3. The Beyond experience

A sharing…

The Beyond Experience

Beyond strived to mend relationships within their family and provide them with social capital

Culture of acceptance and support despite the mistakes they had made, or the situations they were in

Warm and encouraging atmosphere that allowed youth to pursue their own strengths and interests

A space to make friends, have fun, and learn life lessons from interacting with others (staff, volunteers, friends)

A place where they felt a sense of ownership especially youth who came back as volunteers

Closely resembles the Circle of Courage…

A look at the future

Our learning …

Our learning

Beyond’s impact is not

limited to the 4 indicators

Every individual has a unique life

trajectory. Personal and material success

stories are variedMany factors

play a role (intrapersonal,

religion, relationships, etc)

Social capital is an

important part of people’s well-being

Beyond's contribution is appreciated and felt

in different ways, especially through

human relationships (community/ volunteers).

Moving Forward…

For research• Moving forward with tracking• Gaining clarity for benchmarks of poverty,

social mobility, and subjective well-being

For the work• Importance of building community• Importance of volunteers• Importance of maintaining that human touch

“Everybody deserves a chance. Ya, this is what I learnt. And, I learnt from Sister that there is something good about someone, no matter they are convicts, criminals. There must be

something good in them. We need to see the strengths in them not their weakness”