NUMBER OF PART-TIME AND DAILY-RATED WORKERS

Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Labour what is the estimated number of Singaporeans who are (i) casual workers and (ii) daily-rated workers and the gender breakdown.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: The International Labour Organisation does not define "casual" workers. It would be very difficult to canvass and obtain information on whether a person is working "casually". In Singapore, we have defined a person who works for less than 30 hours each week to be a part-timer. This may be the closest approximation of a "casual" worker. The June 1992 Labour Force Survey revealed that 50,400 or 3.2% of employed persons worked part-time. Of these, some 33,100 or two-thirds were females, while males numbered 17,300. Majority of these part-timers are Singaporeans.

The total number of daily-rated workers is not available. However, there were 4,913 daily-rated workers, mostly Singaporeans, in Government ministries and departments as at end-May 1993. No breakdown by gender is available.