Budget 2024: Workfare enhancements announced at Budget 2024 equate to Bigger Payouts, for More Low-Income Workers
Increasing the cash portion and accounting for inflation and the household size can provide more financial stability.
Singapore, 22 Feb 2024 – LEAP201 commends the government’s 2024 Budget, titled ‘Building Our Shared Future Together’.
We were paying close attention to the enhancements of the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme.
The Workfare enhancements announced at Budget 2024 equate to Bigger Payouts, for More Low-Income Workers. These enhancements are in the impact direction of LEAP201’S Advocacy efforts.
In 2023, we published a Workfare Reimagined report in partnership with NUS’s Social Service Research Centre. The report proposed wide-ranging recommendations to redesign WIS to better support lower-wage workers and their households. In the build-up to Budget 2024, LEAP201 Chairman Michael Lien published an Op-Ed, reiterating these recommendations, which included annual reviews of the scheme to keep pace with inflation and increasing cash payouts.
The latest Workfare enhancements include increases in the qualifying income cap and maximum annual payouts. While these are regular features of WIS scheme reviews since it was introduced, two things caught our attention:
First, the increase in the qualifying income cap (of $500) was the largest since the scheme was introduced – more than DOUBLE the average of the last 5 increases.
Second, this is the first time the government had enhanced the WIS earlier than their 3-yearly review schedule, as based on past patterns of review. The 2024 enhancements came 1 year ahead of schedule.
We are encouraged by the greater sense of urgency by the government to review WIS and support our lower-wage workers.
The latest enhancements mean greater support to a larger group of lower-wage workers. This is aligned with Leap201’s aim when we commissioned the Workfare Reimagined research, which we hope would also engage the society in dialogue over how we can better support lower-wage workers.
Leap201 supports the 2024 Budget and are committed to work with the government, businesses and NGOs to build a fairer and stronger society where no one is left behind.
Read here for the Workfare Reimagined report commissioned by Leap201 and written by NUS Social Service Research Centre – click here
Link to 2024 Budget Speech coverage on Workfare by CNA – Half a million lower-wage Singaporeans to benefit from improved income top-up scheme – click here