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Ethos Issue 3, Oct 2007
Workfare: The Fourth Pillar of
Social Security in Singapore
Jacqueline Poh
Singapore’s latest labour policy
is more than a wage supplement scheme—it is a bold new
addition to the social safety net in today’s volatile
economic environment.
What is Workfare? Workfare is often thought
to refer to the income supplement that will be given to low-income
workers from January 2008.
It is more than that. Workfare in Singapore
refers to the philosophy that work is the best form of social
assistance. Anyone who is able to work should be helped to
find a job and earn a salary that is enough to support himself
and his family. Manifested in concrete policies, Workfare
reinforces the work ethic of Singaporeans and makes it worthwhile
for anyone at the margin to offer up his labour to the economy.
The development of Workfare marks a milestone
in the history of social assistance to low-income Singaporeans.
When it was announced, it came as a surprise to some Singaporeans
weaned on a diet of strict anti-entitlement and anti-dependency
rhetoric. As late as 2005, the nation’s founding father
Lee Kuan Yew was reiterating the reasons why after a short-lived
Fabian phase in the 1950s, the Government departed from the
idea of creating a welfare state: “I soon realised that
before distributing the pie I had first to bake it. So I departed
from welfarism because it sapped a people’s self-reliance
and their desire to excel and succeed.”
However, in spite of its generous trappings,
Workfare is not a radical departure from the nation’s
fundamental values. It reinforces the values of hard work
and self-reliance that had long existed in Singapore society.
Workfare is firstly a pragmatic response to the effect of
globalisation and technology on wage dispersion. Second, it
is a creative way of boosting what you get for doing something.
HOLISTIC FRAMEWORK
Although Workfare is often associated with its income supplementation
component, it is actually a framework around which six major
initiatives work in concert to ensure the well-being of low-wage
and vulnerable but work-capable Singaporeans (Figure 1).
Workfare has to address not only the needs
of the low-wage worker, but also those of his family; not
only his ability to earn a living wage but his incentive to
upgrade as well. If families suffer extended periods of unemployment,
uncertainty and low wages, there is a danger that the negative
attitudes and mindsets of discouraged workers could be transmitted
to their children, doing irreparable harm to the work ethic
and attitude of the next generation. Short-term assistance
can easily drift into long-term dependency. By discouraging
families from asking for help until they are at a crisis point,
we are not solving problems that might benefit from early
intervention.
Workfare aims to incentivise work and increase
opportunities for low-wage workers to support themselves,
build assets and facilitate social mobility.
FIGURE 1. SUPPORTING THE LOW-WAGE WORKER
The first thrust, “Rewarding Work”,
is targeted at encouraging inactive low-skilled Singaporeans
to enter and stay in the workforce by making work financially
worthwhile through the Workfare Bonus and later the Workfare
Income Supplement (see box story). It is also focused on helping
low-wage workers to build up assets for the future, with additional
housing subsidies for first-time buyers of Housing and Development
Board (HDB) flats. The grant was recently expanded in August
2007 to an eligibility ceiling of S$4,000 and a maximum quantum
of S$30,000.
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