Higher Workfare payouts for older, low-wage workers

BOTH the low-income and the disabled in Singapore will get more government support as they do their jobs, said Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in parliament on Thursday.

The Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) and the Workfare Training Support (WTS) schemes will be enhanced as a result, he told the House. The bulk of the changes went to WIS, a permanent scheme that supplements the income and retirement savings of eligible workers aged 35 and above through cash payments and Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions.

Mr Heng said that the qualifying income ceiling will go up to S$2,000 a month, up from the current average wage of S$1,900. This will result in some support going to those in the 30th-income percentile, while continuing to help the bottom 20 per cent of workers. In all, Mr Heng said that the WIS would benefit about 460,000 citizens.