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Source:
www.mom.gov.sg |
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WORKFARE: REWARDING WORK
Ministerial Committee on Low Wage Workers in Singapore |
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Our Strong Work Ethic Has Enabled
Economic Progress |
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Singapore prospered over the past 40 years
because we made ourselves relevant and competitive in the global
economy. |
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We have achieved a high standard of living
with per capita income reaching US$26,8001 in 2004, comparable to
countries such as France and Italy. |
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We succeeded because our policies supported
values of personal responsibility, self-reliance, thrift, education, and
hard work. We prospered because our people had a strong work ethic and
continually upgraded their skills to improve their productivity. |
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Low Income Singaporeans Have Benefited
from Economic Progress ¡ |
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Economic growth has benefited all
Singaporeans. Even the lowest 20% in household income has accumulated
substantial assets. |
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Ownership of Consumer
Goods amongst the bottom 20% of households
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Durables
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1998 |
2003
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Television |
97 |
98 |
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Audio / Video Compact Disc Player |
41 |
69 |
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Cable TV Subscription |
8.1 |
20 |
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Refrigerator |
98 |
98 |
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Microwave Oven |
24 |
38 |
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Air-conditioner |
37 |
50 |
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Handphone |
29 |
72 |
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Personal Computer |
25 |
48 |
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Internet Subscription / Access |
7.1 |
31 |
Source: Household Expenditure Survey 02/03
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Some 87% of these households own homes, well
above the 46% and 52% of such households in the United States and the
United Kingdom respectively. The equity in their homes, defined as the
estimated resale value of their HDB flat less the outstanding mortgage,
is $138,000 on average. |
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These households have also enjoyed rising
standards of living. Virtually all lower income households own a
television and 69% own a compact disc player; 72% own mobile phones
compared to just 29% five years ago. Half of them own an air
conditioner. |
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¡ But They Face New Challenges |
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However, lower income households face new
challenges today. The economic and employment landscape has changed
dramatically in recent years. |
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Hundreds of millions of lower-cost skilled
workers from China, India, Eastern Europe and Latin America have entered
into the global workforce. Competition from these workers and economic
restructuring are exerting downward pressure on the wages of less
skilled workers in all countries. |
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The widening income gap between the top and
bottom 20% of our households is not unique to Singapore. In a globalised
economy, jobs would be lost if wages are too high, and talent will move
if wages are not high enough. |
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If we raise wages for low skilled jobs
without improving productivity, companies in Singapore will lose their
competitiveness and relocate. More jobs will be lost. |
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We will need holistic strategies to help
lower income Singaporeans adjust to these challenges. Ultimately, all
Singaporeans must continue to share in the fruits of our progress, as
they have done in the past. Our social compact of working and
progressing together must carry through to the next generation. |
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Those who are capable of work must be able
to find good jobs, earn adequate wages to support themselves and their
families, own homes, educate their children, and put aside enough for
their medical and retirement needs. These are simple goals, but very few
countries, now or in the past, have achieved them. |
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Singapore¡¯s Response: Workfare not
Welfare |
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Our response to this challenge will shape
the values of Singaporeans and, as a consequence, the nature of our
society itself. If we choose wrongly, it will set us on the wrong
trajectory and undermine what we have achieved over the last 40 years. |
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Our response cannot be centred on Welfare.
Welfare should be restricted only to those who really cannot work and do
not have family support. |
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The majority who can work, must not become
dependent on the state, on handouts, grants and subsidies. Welfare will
weaken their ability to fend for themselves and their families. It will
erode the work ethic which has underpinned our success as a nation. |
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It is unfair to those who strive to work. It
will undermine self-reliance and self-responsibility. Misdirected
welfare is ultimately unsustainable because we will have to raise taxes
very high to support growing needs. Eventually, we will all be worse
off. |
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Singapore¡¯s response must be Workfare.
Workfare is based on the idea that promoting the work ethic is the best
way to help people. It is the same spirit that has inspired our growth
and prosperity from Independence. |
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From the time of our nation¡¯s birth, we had
to make a living by being relevant to the global economy. To meet the
demands of industrialisation, our workers trained and upgraded their
skills. |
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To compete effectively in the emerging
knowledge-based economy, our students worked hard in our world-class
ITEs, polytechnics and Universities. To help low skilled workers
upgrade, the Government tailored programmes like BEST, WISE and MOST. We
prospered because we were always willing to strive, seek, and never
yield. |
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Thus, Workfare is not new. But we must
ensure that Workfare remains relevant in this new global environment
where downward wage pressures as well as expanding social and economic
needs, can strengthen the temptation to ask for handouts. We should
never take our work ethic for granted. |
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Workfare is based not on helping people to
meet an ever-expanding list of needs, but to help them to work so that
they can help themselves and their families. It reaffirms the work ethic
and makes it tangible by extending benefits to low wage workers when
they demonstrate efforts to upgrade, to find jobs, and to stay employed. |
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More..... |
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Key Data on Bottom 20% of Households |
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Source:
www.mom.gov.sg Press Release 30
Aug 2005 Brief On Workfare |
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Workfare to help low wage workers in six key areas
