More Help for Households on Government Assistance Schemes and Those Living in Rental Flats

Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports in light of data which shows that the lowest 20% of income earners are the worse hit by inflation in the first half of 2012, whether the Ministry will consider extending more help to households staying in rental flats and to households that receive financial assistance from the Government.

Mr Chan Chun Sing: We share Mr Ang Wei Neng's concern on the cost pressures faced by low-income households. We have been monitoring the trend and its impact, and have actively extended appropriate additional assistance where necessary.

Our assistance to low-income households comes in different forms, both broad-based and targeted. Broad-based help includes the GST Voucher introduced in Budget 2012. This is a permanent scheme to help lower- and middle-income households with their expenses, in particular, what they pay in GST. It has three components – Cash, Medisave and U-Save. A working low-income household 2 staying in a HDB 1-room rental unit can receive $760, which covers more than half of the GST they pay each year. Retiree couples in smaller flats will receive a GST Voucher that will fully offset their yearly GST expenses.

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We also deliver targeted assistance under schemes such as ComCare. Delivered through the Community Development Councils (CDCs), ComCare schemes broadly cover the lowest 20th percentile of households. In April this year, we increased the income cap to allow more low-income families to qualify for assistance. Families that need temporary help can apply for assistance if they earn up to $1,700 per month. To ensure help for larger families, we also introduced a per capita income criterion.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and make adjustments to MCYS assistance measures where necessary. The assistance the Government provides to low-income households also extend beyond MCYS and ComCare to other areas, such as education, healthcare and housing. The Government will continue to ensure that the low-income receive the comprehensive assistance they need.