CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND ACCOUNTS

Ms Braema Mathiaparanam asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how many (i) individuals do not have Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts (ii) women do not have any CPF accounts and (iii) CPF accounts are inactive; and (b) if he will provide details of these inactive account holders by age group, sex and occupation type.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: As at 31st December 2002, 24,700 Singaporeans aged 21 and above did not have a CPF account, of which, 13,200 or 53% were female.

There were 1.5 million inactive CPF account holders as at 31st December 2002. 52% of these inactive CPF account holders were female, and 48% were male. For the detailed breakdown of total inactive CPF account holders by age and gender, please refer to the Table below. The CPF Board does not maintain records on the occupations of CPF members. Total inactive CPF account holders by age and gender as at 31 December 2002 Age Gender Total Percentage by Age Female Male Unspecified Up to 20 23,896 27,302 12 51,210 3.4% 20 - <25 38,328 65,608 143 104,079 6.9% 25 - <30 32,335 32,775 35 65,145 4.3% 30 - <35 59,615 43,477 40 103,132 6.9% 35 - <40 95,029 85,946 138 181,113 12.1% 40 - <45 105,045 100,591 218 205,854 13.7% 45 - <50 95,156 88,742 191 184,089 12.3% 50 - <55 75,227 62,513 168 137,908 9.2% 55 - <60 53,988 40,017 68 94,073 6.3% 60 and 189,744 153,088 83 342,915 22.9% above Unspecified 4,379 18,061 6,792 29,232 2.0% Total 772,742 718,120 7,888 1,498,750 100.0% (51.6%) (47.9%) (0.5%) (100%) Note: Inactive CPF account holders refer to CPF members who had no CPF contribution paid for them (as an employee) for the current and the preceding three months. This excludes self-employed members. TABLE 1: UNEMPLOYED RESIDENTS BY AGE AND EDUCATION, SEP 2002 (Non-seasonally adjusted) Education Total Below 30 30 - 39 40 & Above Number Rate Number Rate Number Rate Number Rate Total 72,000 4.2% 19,700 5.3% 18,400 3.6% 33,900 4.1% Below 25,500 4.6% 4,300 10.0% 4,700 4.3% 16,500 4.1% Secondary Secondary21,200 4.7% 6,200 6.5% 7,500 5.3% 7,500 3.5% Upper 6,000 3.0% 900 1.6% 1,100 1.6% 4,100 5.2% Secondary Diploma 6,400 3.7% 3,600 4.1% 400 0.8% 2,400 6.9% Degree 12,900 4.0% 4,700 5.2% 4,700 3.6% 3,400 3.6% Note: Within the same educational group, younger persons generally experience higher unemployment rate than the older ones as many are entering the labour market for the first time and even after starting work, tend to seek more frequent job changes. TABLE 2: DISTRIBUTION OF JOB VACANCIES BY INDUSTRY, SEPTEMBER 2002 Number (%) TOTAL 17229 100.0 INDUSTRY GOODS PRODUCING INDUSTRIES 6617 38.4 MANUFACTURING 5825 33.8 Food, Beverages & Tobacco 304 1.8 Textile & Wearing Apparel 339 2.0 Paper Products & Printing 144 0.8 Petroleum & Chemical Products 607 3.5 Fabricated Metal Products 571 3.3 Machinery & Equipment 501 2.9 Electrical Products 83 0.5 Electronic Products 1645 9.5 Medical & Precision Instruments 113 0.7 Transport Equipment 1343 7.8 Other Manufacturing Industries 175 1.0 CONSTRUCTION 617 3.6 OTHERS* 175 1.0 SERVICES PRODUCING 10612 61.6 INDUSTRIES Wholesale & Retail Trade 1899 11.0 Wholesale Trade 816 4.7 Retail Trade 1083 6.3 Hotels & Restaurants 1659 9.6 Hotels 649 3.8 Restaurants 1010 5.9 Transport,Storage & Communications 2576 15.0 Transport,Storage & Supporting Services 2356 13.7 Post & Telecommunications 220 1.3 Financial Services 1001 5.8 Financial Institutions 912 5.3 Insurance 89 0.5 Business & Real Estate Services 1713 9.9 Community, Social & Personal Servoces 1764 10.2 OCCUPATIONAL GROUP Professionals,Managers, Executives & Technicians Technicians 4980 28.9 Clerical,Sales & Service Workers 5055 29.3 Production & Transport Operators Operators,Cleaners & Labourers 7194 41.8 _________________________________________________________ * Includes Agriculture, Fishing, Quarrying and Utilities. Note: Data pertain to private sector establishments with at least 25 employees. Source: Labour Market Survey, MOM TABLE 3A: TOP 5 PRIVATE SECTOR* OCCUPATIONS WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF JOB VACANCIES BY MAJOR SECTOR, SEPTEMBER 2002 Occupation Number of Job Sector Vacancies TOTAL 17229 Manufacturing Electronic equipment/ component assembler(82812) 908 Aircraft engine mechanic(72314) 543 Sewing machine operator (82631) 297 Metalworking machine setter-operator (General)(82111) 201 Plastic product machine operator (82320) 199 All Occupations 5825 Construction Construction labourer and related worker (93300) 144 Electrician (72413) 40 Bricklayer (71111) 30 Plasterer (71150) 27 Quantity surveyor (21496) 25 All Occupations 617 Wholesale & Retail Shop sales assistant (52102) 652 Trade Cashier (General) (42111) 136 Sales supervisor (52101) 76 Sales demonstrator (52103) 55 Plastic product machine operator (82320) 50 All Occupations 1899 Hotels & Waiter (General) (51231) 512 Restaurant Kitchen assistant (91222) 179 Cook (51220) 167 Room steward/Chambermaid(91221) 99 Bar/Lounge hostess (51233) 58 All Occupations 1659 Transport, Storage Trailer truck driver (83242) 825 & Communications Office clerk (General) (41201) 181 Cabin attendant/steward (51113) 181 Bus driver (83230) 149 Commercial airline pilot(31531) 121 All Occupations 2576 _____________________________________________________________ * Data pertain to private sector establishments with at least 25 employees. Occupation Number Sector of Job Vacancies Financial Services Customer service clerk (42225) 151 Management executive (39221) 122 Office clerk (General) (41201) 117 Porter (except hotel) (92013) 104 Bank teller (42121) 90 All Occupations 1001 Business & Real Private security guard (51440) 337 Estate Cleaner(Industrial establishment) (91292) 109 Office cleaner (91291) 102 Budgeting and financial accounting manager (12331) 26 Auditor (Accounting) (24102) 24 All Occupations 1713 Community, Social Professional nurse (General) & Personal Services (32241) 253 Hair stylist/Hairdresser (51311) 72 Beautician (51313) 68 Sweeper and related worker (91420) 58 Waiter (General) (51231) 55 All Occupations 1764 ____________________________________________________________ Source: Job Vacancy Survey,September 2002, MOM TABLE 3B: PUBLIC SECTOR JOB VACANCIES, SEPTEMBER 2002 Total 3,613 Professional/Associate 2,013 Professional Teaching Professional 863 Health Professional/Associate Professional (eg,General Physician, Nurse) 82 IT Professional 78 Engineer 176 Government Executive - Graduate (eg,Senior Officer, Manager) 383 Management Support Officer - Diploma Holder 76 Technician/Technical Support Officer 283 Other Professional/Associate Professional(eg,Legal Professional Accountant) 72 Clerical Worker 205 Protective Service Worker 1,295 CISCO Police Officer 100 SPF Police Officer 136 SAF Personnel 775 Fire Fighter 174 Other Protective Service Worker (eg, prison guard,life guard) 110 Cleaner,Manual & Related Workers(eg,office attendant) 98 attendant) Others 2 __________________________________________________________ Source: Job Vacancy Survey, September 2002, MOM TABLE 4: RESIDENT UNEMPLOYMENT RATE* (%) BY PREVIOUS OCCUPATION, JUNE 2002 (Non-seasonally adjusted) Occupation Unemployment Rate (%) Managers, Working Proprietors and Senior Officials 3.1 Professionals 3.1 Technicians and Associate Professionals 4.3 Clerical Workers 6.0 Service and Sales Workers 7.1 Production Craftsmen and Related Workers 7.3 Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers 7.3 Cleaners,Labourers and Related Workers 7.3 _________________________________________________________ Note: *The unemployment rate represents the number unemployed as a percent of the labour force. The labour force number for occupations is determined by adding the number employed in a given occupation to the number of unemployed persons who have worked previously in the same occupation. The number of unemployed persons is then divided by the labour force.