MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE ON LOW WAGE WORKERS (Solutions to resolve problems of low-income workers)

Column No : 1786

MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE ON LOW WAGE WORKERS:

(Solutions to resolve problems of low-income workers): 5.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Manpower what solutions has the multi-Ministerial committee come up with to resolve the plethora of problems that 240,000 full-time and many more odd job, low income workers earning less than $1,000 per month are facing.

Mr Gan Kim Yong (for the Minister for Manpower): Sir, the Ministerial Committee on Low Wage Workers started work in July this year and released some initial recommendations for public consultation on 30th August 2005 under the broad strategy for Workfare. The recommendations have been generally well received by various stakeholders among workers, unions and employers as well ascommunity groups. Singaporeans have responded positively to the Workfare approach as they recognise that welfare is unsustainable and unproductive. Through Workfare, we will do our utmost to help and reward those who make an effort to find and keep a job and who upgrade themselves to earn more.

Keeping this broad principle in mind, the Committee proposed that Workfare should help low wage workers in sixareas. Firstly, to make work pay. These include the Workfare bonus and housing grants tied to work.Secondly,toprovide social support for work, to put in place programmes to help workers to take care of their dependants while they are at work.Thirdly,higher skills for better jobs, namely, to help low wage workers improve their skills so that they can keep their current jobs, or take on new ones. Fourthly,expand job opportunities by re-designing existing low paying jobs into higher productivity and better paying jobs.Fifthly, hope for the future. These include programmes to help children from the lower income familiesto complete their education so that they are better able to find and keep jobs in future.

Sixthly,sharing in the nation’s progress. Finally, when the economy is doing well, we will examine ways to share the fruits of our economic progress with the low income families in a way which is fair and helpful.

For those who are physically or mentally incapable of work, ComCare will continue to serve as the safety net.

The Committee recognises that Workfare can only succeed through collective efforts at every level of society. We have therefore been holding extensive consultations over the last few months to help us understand further problems faced by low wage workers and formulate and fine-tune our recommendations to help them.

The Committee will be releasing its report outlining the problems and challenges faced by low wage workers and the proposed measures to address these challenges in January next year.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong (Non-Constituency Member): Sir, on behalf of workers, like the low-wage workers, I would like to ask: can they expect to take home more cash soon from the work? Are they expected to have more take-home cash?

Mr Gan Kim Yong: The key for the Committee is to focus on measures that are practical and sustainable. To allow workersto take home more salary without commensurate increase in productivity may not be sustainable in the long term. So the focus of the Committee, as I explained earlier, is on the six key areas to fundamentally help improve the productivity and the competitiveness of ourlow-wage workers so that they would be able to earn more and, as a result, they would be able to take home more pay.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim (Nominated Member): Sir,with respect to the second point that the Minister of Statementioned just now on providing social support for work, would the Ministry consider providing eldercare leave since now we already have child sick leave. Providing eldercare leave will apply to workers who are a single child in a family and providing eldercare will help them to work and take care of their parents at the same time.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: These are areas that we would look into. We thank the Member for the suggestion.