By SINGAPORE — 142,400, or 68.7 per cent of working Singaporeans above the age of 65, earn less than S$2,500 a month, said Minister for Manpower, Dr Tan See Leng.
This was revealed by Dr Tan on Tuesday (7 Feb) in response to the written parliamentary questions filed by Non-constituency Member of Parliament Leong Mun Wai, who asked for the number of Singaporeans above age 65 who are still working as of December 2022.
Mr Leong also asked how many of them earn less than $2,500, $2,500 and $4,000 and above $4,000 per month, and also what are the top five industries they are working in.
Dr Tan shared that around 207,000 residents aged 65 and over were employed in 2022, equivalent to an employment rate of 31.7 per cent of the age group.
This figure is high compared to OECD countries, and is probably the result of the high life expectancy of Singaporeans, said Dr Tan.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), a third of the 207,300 employed residents aged 65 and over were working part-time.
In particular, of the employed residents aged 65 and over who earned less than $2,500 per month, 42 per cent of them were part-time workers.
“Part-time workers tend to earn less, considering fewer hours worked and the nature of jobs offered,” noted Dr Tan.
The top five industries employing the most resident workers aged 65 and over in 2022 were wholesale and retail trade, administrative and support services, transportation and storage, accommodation and food services, and manufacturing.
According to MOM’s latest statistics on 31 January, those working above the age of 60 can earn as low as S$1,526 as cleaners, labourers & related workers.
