LIVING STANDARD OF WORKERS (Extent of increase since June 1952)

Mr Seah Peng Chuan asked the Minister for Labour and Welfare to what extent has the standard of living of the workers in Singapore increased since June, 1952.

Dr Lim Yew Hock: Mr Speaker, Sir, as the information sought involves columns of figures and is of some length, I will circulate the information requested by the hon. Member for Kampong Kapor in the Official Report. Following is the information: Every year in July the Labour Department conducts a stratified sample survey of average weekly earnings, hours of work and conditions of employment. The results of this survey for the years 1953 to 1957 are given below:- AVERAGE WEEKLY HOURS WORKED, AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS AND AVERAGE EARNINGS PER HOUR IN ALL INDUSTRIES Year Average hours Average Earning Average Earning worked during for the week per hour the week (All workers) (All workers) (All workers) $ c. $ c. 1953 ... 49.89 32 04 0 64 1954 ... 50.54 33 10 0 65 1955 ... 49.98 36 80 0 74 1956 ... 48.42 37 12 0 77 1957 ... 47.80 37 98 0 79 No figures are available for 1952. The figures quoted indicate: that average weekly hours of work have been progressively decreasing (49.89 hours for all workers in 1953 as against 47.80 hours in 1957); that average weekly earnings have risen progressively from $32.04 in 1953 to $37.98 in 1957 for all workers, an increase of 18.5 per cent; and that average hourly earnings have shown a progressively steady rise from 0.64 cents in 1953 to 0.79 cents in 1957, an increase of 23.4 per cent. Money earnings have increased whilst hours of work have decreased since 1953. On the other hand, the cost of living has remained fairly stable since 1954, as shown below by the Cost of Living Index of the lower income group for the month of June from 1952 to 1957:- COST OF LIVING INDEX OF LOWER INCOME GROUP Weight June June June June June June 1939 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 100.0 344.6 346.8 313.9 308.2 313.1 320.6 Further, the Labour Ordinance, 1955 provides a number of benefits, including paid annual leave and paid sick leave which were not provided for by law before December 1955. On the basis of these facts, there has been a marked increase in the standard of living of the workers since 1953, and consequently a greater share in the national income.