StanChart Singapore and Temasek Trust trialling cash stipend scheme for low-income families

STANDARD Chartered Singapore and Temasek Trust are providing fixed monthly cash stipends to a group of eligible low-income families for an 18-month period, in an attempt to see if the additional income and stability will help these families prioritise their long-term employment, skills-training and education goals. The newly launched Family Empowerment Programme (FEP) by AWWA hopes to empower families with greater flexibility, such that they can make choices that boost their ability to support themselves in the longer run.

AWWA is a Singapore-based registered charity that provides, among other things, early intervention for pre-schoolers, education for both children and adults, and social assistance for vulnerable families.

The idea for the FEP arose from AWWA’s experience working with vulnerable families.

“There is evidence that chronic poverty has an impact on cognitive abilities and decision making,” said AWWA’s chief executive J R Karthikeyan.

“We hope to be able to show through this research that, in the Singapore context, enhancing income stability for low-income families, complementary to the other support they receive, can help shift their focus to longer-term goal-setting and planning, and thus improve these families’ longer-term financial situation and well-being,” he added.

StanChart is donating S$750,000 for the first 18-months of the FEP. If the outcome of the pilot is positive, Temasek Trust will contribute further funding through its oscar@sg fund to refine and extend the FEP.

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