Singapore median household income from work grew in 2014

MEDIAN household income from work in Singapore increased in nominal and real terms in 2014, according to a report released on Monday by the Department of Statistics.

Among resident employed households, median monthly household income from work rose from S$7,870 in 2013 to S$8,290 last year, a 5.3 per cent increase in nominal terms, or 4.1 per cent increase in real terms.

Taking household size into account, median monthly household income from work per household member rose by 5.9 per cent in nominal terms, or 4.7 per cent in real terms in 2014.

Separately, households in Housing & Development Board's (HDB) one-room and two-room flats received more government transfers.

Overall, resident households (including households with no working person) received S$3,370 per household member on average from various government schemes in 2014. It was about 8 per cent lower than the average amount of S$3,650 received in 2013, owing to a lower level of one-off transfers in 2014. However, government structural transfers (that is, transfers excluding one-off payments) rose in 2014 compared to 2013.

In 2014, resident households in HDB's one-room and two-room flats received S$9,030 per household member on average from government schemes, more than 2.5 times the transfers received by resident households in other types of dwelling.

The Gini coefficient was 0.464 in 2014, relatively stable compared to 0.463 in 2013. After adjusting for government transfers and taxes, the Gini coefficient last year fell from 0.464 to 0.412, reflecting the redistributive effect of government transfers.