Here’s how you’re getting screwed by gomen and companies just for being single

You know those Kdramas where the lead characters start off with a fake marriage then end up falling in love? Super romantic, rigggght? 😍 But being perfectly honest, it sounds like something that only happens on TV. Or so you might think. In truth, there could be a valid reason why such marriages might exist in the real world, after all.

And that’s because of… dun dun dun…….. singlism! Which in super simple terms, is the discrimination or bias faced by single people.

Now hold up, we see you doing that double take. To clarify, this isn’t about your grandma pestering you to get married amidst a hectic CNY dinner, nor is it the kind of discrimination you usually see in cases of racial or religious bias. In fact, there may not even be bad intentions with singlism.

It’s just that some practices are so ingrained in our laws, policies and simple day-to-day life, that it isn’t immediately obvious that married people or couples are often favoured or treated better than single people. Case in point…

 

Couples get more tax returns and rebates than single people

Have you guys heard of a thing called joint assessment? Basically, if you’re married, you and your partner can pool your incomes and file your taxes together. So, if one of you is a high earner and the other not so much, the high earner can enjoy a lower tax rate thanks to their partner. In the plainest most simple English, it means couples can end up paying a lot! less! tax!

On top of joint assessments, there are also a bunch of tax reliefs and extra rebates only married people get to have. And we’re not talking an amount that’s just pocket change here. In Malaysia, spouse relief can go up to RM4,000 a year, and at one point, Selangor was even handing out angpao money as much as RM600 to newlyweds.

But this upper hand that couples have goes even further. Gomen servants, as you all know, are entitled to a pension. While on the job, they can claim expenses for their spouse, kids, and even parents. But, when they’re no longer around, did you know that only a spouse or child can inherit that pension? So if you’re single, just know that your family will never see a piece of that pie.

On the flip side of that, if you’re an EPF contributor, you might already know about iSayang, the program that allows husbands to transfer 2% of their monthly EPF savings into their wives’ accounts. This is awesome for women who rely on their husbands financially– but here’s where it goes from bueno to no bueno: single people can’t use it, even if they have dependents of their own.

Now, speaking of dependents…

 

Married people get better insurance coverage than single people

Flicking through your insurance documents, you would’ve likely come across the term ‘dependents’. Well, in the insurance world, dependents are the people who can also be covered by your insurance plan, and whaddaya know, spouse and kids are the most common sort.

That being said, according to an insurance agent we consulted, you can actually have other people as your dependents, but that really depends on the insurance you’re getting. Travel insurance, for example, won’t work that way. So more often than not, single people end up being short-changed. Despite paying the same amount as married people, they get less benefits.

Things take an even worse turn at work. You know those medical benefits that caught your eye when you signed up for your job? Yeah, they should’ve told you those come with ✨conditional terms✨

While with private insurance, there’s an opportunity to change your dependents, a workplace medical insurance will only ever cover the employee’s spouse and children. This sucks big time for single people who are the sole breadwinners of their family. More importantly though, it forces them to seek out more costly private insurance to support those who rely on them.

“It’s a very restrictive coverage and very obviously favours married couples. And it forces you to fork out for private insurance coverage,”– Nila, employee at a national company

And now, when we dive deeper into the workplace…

 

Single people are expected to work harder than married people

Show of hands, how many of you have put in a transfer notice with your majikan and have yet to be transferred out? Now, based on that, as per the great Beyonce’s request, all the single ladies (and men), put your hands up 🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♂️

Yeah, thought so.

We all know it’s way easier to get your transfer approved if you’re married, the reason being ‘ikut suami/isteri’. This writer can actually testify to this fact. This writer’s dad moved around a lot for work and as a result, this writer’s mom, who was a teacher, was constantly transferring in and out of schools across different states. And never once, was the transfer an issue.

“People actually rush to get married when they work away from their future spouse, so it’s 100% true that transfers are more easily approved when you’re married,” — This writer’s mom, ex-teacher

There’s this widespread (and uninvited) assumption that single people must always give way to their married colleagues. They’re pressured to be ‘flexible’ and more ‘responsible’, often taking on extra work while their married colleagues get to have a decent work-life balance because of their familial duties. And ofc, complaining won’t work because now you’re just being ‘lazy’.

Well, it may sound like we’re just ranting, but the truth is…

 

If you look back on your life, you’ll likely find tons of single-sided evidence

From travel deals made for 2 to fancy Valentine’s dinners at restaurants, there’s plenty of celebrations, events, and deals that revolve around couples and leave single people out. It may seem like a small thing, but feeling excluded all the time isn’t very fun. And this is without even mentioning the social stigma, especially within our traditional Asian values, towards people who choose not to get married.

Now, taking a different perspective, it’s true that marriage and family life demand both time and money. So, it kinnnnnnda makes sense that stuff like tax and insurance tend to lean towards that. But if this just means that single people end up with less time and less money, then how lo to find husband or wife? Huhu.

All this to say is, the next time your mom comes at you with this question…

…maybe there’s something to think about, hm?