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Aim of WIS is to help low-income Singaporeans

Employment practices
  • Lianhe Wanbao (27 December 2012) : Aim of WIS is to help low-income Singaporeans
  • Lianhe Wanbao (14 December 2012) : Worked harder but got less WIS

Aim of WIS is to help low-income Singaporeans
- Lianhe Wanbao, 27 December 2012

  1. I refer to the letter by a Wan Bao reader (读者943) ("Worked harder but got less WIS", 14 Dec), who suggested that the payouts under the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme should not take into account factors such as age or wage.
  2. The intent of WIS is to supplement wages, build up CPF savings and encourage regular work. As older persons generally need more encouragement than younger ones to work, an older recipient will receive more WIS than a younger worker earning the same wage.
  3. WIS targets mainly low-wage workers in the bottom 20%. As workers earn more, we however do not withdraw WIS suddenly, but reduce it gradually as wage rises. In fact, WIS payouts are designed such that the total income (including WIS) of a recipient increases the more he earns.
  4. To illustrate, a 45-year old employee who earns $1,200 will have a total income of $1,283 per month, compared to a similar employee earning a wage of $1,250 who will have a higher total income of $1,325. Such calibrated assistance also ensures that a worker who earns more than the income eligibility cut-off of $1,700 (and hence does not qualify for WIS), would have a total income that is higher than someone who qualifies for WIS.
  5. We will continue to refine WIS to ensure that it remains targeted at lower-income Singaporeans who need more assistance.
Worked harder but got less WIS
- Lianhe Wanbao, 14 December 2012

A WB reader, who works as a cleaner lamented that he got lesser WIS when he worked harder than the rest. He said that because his income is low, he often worked overtime, over 10 hours every day, so that he can earn more to support his child’s education. His counterparts who do not work overtime and earns for their leisure trips, ended up with more WIS than him. He urged the authority to tweak its policy, not to give WIS based on salaries, age or jobs but give a fair payout to all.