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The Government will help and reward those who make an effort to find
and keep a job and who upgrade themselves to earn more. Workfare is
better than Welfare. It is better for the individual, as he earns
his own keep and retains his dignity and self esteem. For the
family, it sustains respect for the care-givers and transmits sound
values of work to their children. For our nation, it restores
citizens to productive livelihoods and empowers them to contribute
to society.
For those who are truly needy but physically or
mentally incapable of work, ComCare will continue to serve as the
safety net.
Low Wage Workers Whom Workfare Will Target
We have some 240,000 full-time workers who earn
$1,000 or less per month. Many of them are older and with less than
secondary education. Their incomes have not risen as fast as that of
other Singaporeans in the past five years.
Of these, about 67,000 live in households with a
monthly household income of $1,500 or less. Some also face multiple
problems beyond low incomes, ranging from marital conflict or
divorce, having too large families, to poor parenting and juvenile
delinquency. The future of their next generation is put at risk.
Workfare - Six Key Thrusts
Workfare will help low wage workers in six key
areas.
i. Make Work Pay. The individual must find
work a clearly superior alternative to social assistance. We will be
studying measures to increase take-home pay and other benefits for
low wage workers so that remaining in work is worthwhile. Low-income
families will also get additional grants to help them purchase their
first HDB flat, provided they fulfil some work criteria. At the same
time we must continue efforts to raise the productivity of these
workers through job redesign and training. Working and upgrading is
the sustainable way to build hope of a better future through better
jobs and wages.
ii. Social Support for Work. Workfare will
not reward those who are capable of work but do not make an effort
to find or keep a job. Nonetheless we recognize the challenges that
some families face in keeping a job and at the same time taking care
of their dependents' children, elderly, the disabled, the ill. We
will work with community-based organisations to provide extensive
and adequate support to make it possible for them to return to and
stay in work. We will also help them find flexible work arrangements
to suit their needs. But such help should be extended only if they
make the effort to work. Parents who remain in the workforce signal
the right social values to their children and are a better example
for the next generation than those who unconsciously slide into
low-income dependency.
iii. Higher Skills for Better Jobs. Those
with less than secondary education and who are less skilled are
currently at highest risk of unemployment. As we transit to a
knowledge economy, workers without post-secondary education or
relevant skills will also find it increasingly difficult to find
jobs. We will work with unions, companies and employers to look into
various forms of skills upgrading that can help low wage workers
keep their jobs and take on higher value added and better paying
jobs.
iv. Expand Job Opportunities. Workfare will
only be effective if job seekers can find work. We have already
begun the process of re-designing existing low paying jobs into
higher productivity and higher paying jobs, such as hawker centre
and conservancy cleaning, healthcare and teaching aides, and as
landscape technicians. We are also working with various companies
e.g. in finance, public transport, retail and childcare, on
retraining and job redesign initiatives to open up more job
opportunities for mature workers. The government provides generous
subsidies in workforce retraining and job redesign in these
initiatives. Together with the unions and industry, we will scale up
such efforts. Employers will be key partners in this national effort
to facilitate more and higher productivity job opportunities for
workers through both job re-design and job creation. But it is not
enough for workers to take up these redesigned jobs with
professionalism and pride. The public must also support them and
recognise the dignity of the work they are doing.
v. Hope for the future. We must help
children from lower income households complete their education and
join the workforce. We will work with community-based organisations
to tackle the problem of young children who are not adequately
prepared for primary education as well as the problem of youths who
leave school before obtaining post secondary education. Otherwise
they will add to the pool of low wage workers in the future.
Intervention may be needed at every level - pre-school, primary
school and secondary school.
vi. Sharing in the Nation's Progress.
Finally, when the economy is doing well, we will examine ways to
share the fruits of our economic progress with the low income
households in a way which is fair and helpful.
Workfare - A National Effort
Workfare can only succeed through collective
efforts.
a) Individuals must make their own
best effort to help themselves.
b) Families must support individuals
who wish to work or upgrade.
c) Unions, companies and employers
must support low wage workers in their efforts to stay in work and
to improve their employability.
d) Community-based organizations can
provide support to help low income households upgrade and become
self reliant.
Extensive Public Consultation with Stakeholders
The Committee will hold extensive consultations over
the next few months to help us formulate and fine tune our
recommendations.
Read also:
Key Data on Bottom 20% of Households
Source:
www.mom.gov.sg Press Release 30
Aug 2005 Brief On Workfare
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