• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

Over 50,000 Singaporeans earn less than the minimum wage suggested by WP of S$1,300 a month

by The Online Citizen
04/11/2020
in Labour, Parliament
Reading Time: 3 mins read
11

Close to 52,000 Singaporeans take home a monthly salary of less than S$1,300, said Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad in Parliament on Tuesday (3 November). This amount is inclusive of Workfare cash supplements and after deducting their contribution to the Central Provident Fund (CPF), he added.

The amount includes 30,000 full-time Singaporean employees working in sectors like food services, cleaning and retail, as well as 22,000 self-employed workers, said Mr Zaqy as a reply to a question raised by Workers’ Party (WP) Member of Parliament (WP) Jamus Lim.

Dr Lim had asked how many locals are making less than S$1,300, an amount that the alternative party has called for the government to implement as a universal minimum wage.

To explain further on the figures, Mr Zaqy noted that four in five of these Singaporeans have post-secondary education as their highest qualification and more than a third of them are aged 50 and above.

As such, this shows that low-wage workers are those in the older age group and have a lower education profile compared to the current generation, the Senior Minister noted.

He added that the low-wage workers also get a number of support from the government, which include GST vouchers and financial assistance under ComCare.

Additionally, Mr Zaqy asserted that Singapore follows the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) definition of earnings, and this includes employee contributions to social security and pension schemes.

This means that calculations have to include CPF and Workfare contributions as these can be used for housing and healthcare needs, he explained.

“I think it’s worth to note that 75 per cent of our Workfare recipients, lower-income workers, also own their own homes and therefore there’s a direct impact from CPF into your home ownership,” Mr Zaqy said.

He went on to state that most minimum wage systems overseas – including in the United States and the United Kingdom – are subject to taxes and social security contributions.

For those who are not aware, Workfare scheme was first introduced in 2007 to offer lowe-income Singaporeans with cash payouts and CPF top-up in order to encourage them to keep working and save for retirement.

Following that, Dr Lim, who is MP for Sengkang GRC pointed out, “The ILO has a particular definition but I’m sure that he will also appreciate that for a worker that works full-time in Singapore, they will have a notion of how much their labour effort is worth every month.”

Clarification on WP’s universal minimum wage

In parliament, Mr Zaqy also asked Dr Lim to explain the alternative party’s stand on the minimum wage level as it appeared unclear if it was a gross or nett S$1,300 minimum wage level that WP is pushing for based on its manifesto and recent parliamentary speeches.

To this, Dr Lim replied saying that his question was not about the minimum wage, but rather about the monthly earning of Singaporeans as “it is about what it means for survival”.

Despite the clarification, Mr Zaqy went on to ask Dr Lim to spell out WP’s minimum wage standards.

“Could I just confirm once again that the Workers’ Party’s S$1,300 minimum wage benchmark is gross income so that we could settle this and come to an understanding?” he said.

As a reply, Dr Lim at first mentioned that was correct and a “fair characterisation”, but later clarified that WP’s stand was for the S$1,300 minimum wage to mean take-home pay.

 

 

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

过去五年  四成上班族曾遭性骚扰!仅30%受害者举报
AFP

China’s Alibaba joins global chatbot race

09/02/2023
India police visit Twitter offices after govt tweet flagged
AFP

Twitter service stumbles as paying users get more room

09/02/2023
AFP

Google chatbot blunders as AI battle with Microsoft heats up

09/02/2023
Malaysia Parliament to decide on further action regarding issue of Pedra Branca
Malaysia

Malaysia Parliament to decide on further action regarding issue of Pedra Branca

09/02/2023
Corrupt practices at Keppel — Is there more than meets the eye?
Commentaries

Corrupt practices at Keppel — Is there more than meets the eye?

09/02/2023
Are PAP MPs out of touch with reality?
Opinion

Are PAP MPs out of touch with reality?

09/02/2023
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
11 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

过去五年  四成上班族曾遭性骚扰!仅30%受害者举报

China’s Alibaba joins global chatbot race

09/02/2023
India police visit Twitter offices after govt tweet flagged

Twitter service stumbles as paying users get more room

09/02/2023

Google chatbot blunders as AI battle with Microsoft heats up

09/02/2023
Malaysia Parliament to decide on further action regarding issue of Pedra Branca

Malaysia Parliament to decide on further action regarding issue of Pedra Branca

09/02/2023
Corrupt practices at Keppel — Is there more than meets the eye?

Corrupt practices at Keppel — Is there more than meets the eye?

09/02/2023
Are PAP MPs out of touch with reality?

Are PAP MPs out of touch with reality?

09/02/2023
Lee Hsien Yang: Impossible to fathom decision by CPIB not to prosecute the six former Keppel executives despite extensive public evidence

Lee Hsien Yang: Impossible to fathom decision by CPIB not to prosecute the six former Keppel executives despite extensive public evidence

09/02/2023

India’s Modi hits back at opposition after Adani furore

08/02/2023

Trending posts

Cognizant India transfers staff to work in Singapore as recently as this year

Local IT grads can’t find jobs while engineers constantly transferred from India to work in SG under CECA

by Correspondent
05/02/2023
117

...

No response from Josephine Teo on whether Mediacorp has been instructed to stop coverage of SMT circulation scandal

No response from Josephine Teo over alleged blackout of coverage by Mediacorp over SMT circulation scandal

by Terry Xu
06/02/2023
13

...

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

by Correspondent
03/02/2023
26

...

Japanese-Canadian junior high school girl breaks national record with 3km in 9:02 mins

“I want my normal life back,” Sherry Drury withdraws from National Junior High School Tournament due to overheated public attention

by Yee Loon
06/02/2023
4

...

Desmond Lee says 70% of BTO flats affordable for median household with income of S$8,400 but what about the 10th to 40th percentile?

Desmond Lee says 70% of BTO flats affordable for median household with income of S$8,400 but what about the 10th to 40th percentile?

by Leong Szehian
07/02/2023
13

...

19-year-old delivery rider in China covers 5km in 22 minutes to deliver antivenom to woman who had bitten by snake

19-year-old delivery rider in China covers 5km in 22 minutes to deliver antivenom to woman who had bitten by snake

by Yee Loon
06/02/2023
5

...

November 2020
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30  
« Oct   Dec »

The Online Citizen is a regional online publication based in Taiwan and formerly Singapore’s longest-running independent online media platform.

Navigation

  • Editorial
  • Commentaries
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Community

Support

  • Contact Us
  • Letter submission
  • Membership subscription

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Fact Checking Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

wpDiscuz