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Written Answer by Mrs Josephine Teo Minister for Manpower to Parliamentary Question on low-income citizens

Statistics and publications Employment practices

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1668 OF 2019 FOR THE SITTING ON 6 MAY
QUESTION NO. 1260 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong

To ask the Minister for Manpower how many Singapore citizens earned less than $1,300 per month from full-time work and how many earned less than $2,000 per month from full-time work in 2018.

Answer

  1. Wages have grown at all levels in recent years. In the past 5 years, real wages at the 20th percentile grew 4.2% per annum, more than at the median. As a result, the proportion of full-time employed Singapore Residents earning less than $1,300 in gross monthly income from work1 (including employer CPF contributions) has fallen to about 5%; the number of such residents has also declined by about 40% to 97,000. About 15% earned less than $2,000; the numbers declined by about 30% over five years to 282,000.
  2. To support lower-wage workers, the Government will continue to top up their salaries and CPF savings through the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme. WIS benefits more than 400,000 workers each year, boosting their annual incomes by up to 30%. Total payouts in 2017 amounted to $650 million. Most Workfare recipients also receive other forms of Government support such as GST Vouchers, U-Save rebates and Community Health Assistance Scheme (CHAS).

FOOTNOTE

  1. Gross Monthly Income From Work refers to income earned from employment. For employees, it refers to the gross monthly wages or salaries before deduction of employee CPF contributions and personal income tax. It comprises basic wages, overtime pay, commissions, tips, other allowances and one-twelfth of annual bonuses. For self-employed persons, gross monthly income refers to the average monthly profits from their business, trade or profession (i.e. total receipts less business expenses incurred) before deduction of income tax. (Source: Comprehensive Labour Force Survey, Manpower Research and Statistics Department, MOM)