What does it truly cost to live well in Singapore?

According to a recent Minimum Income Standard study by the National University of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the monthly figure is $3,200 for single parents, and up to $6,400 for partnered households.

For the Singaporeans who took part in the study, a “basic” standard of living is not just about housing, food and clothing—a sense of belonging, respect, security and independence are also essential. By this measure, living well includes being able to participate in social activities, engage in cultural and religious practices and, of course, provide children with the tools to succeed.

Yet how achievable is that dream? For some groups—such as women, older workers, people in low-wage occupations and casual workers—not being able to afford the essentials is an everyday risk. With Singapore’s unadjusted gender wage gap standing around 16%, for instance, women across different backgrounds face challenges in securing a good life for themselves and their families.

As the cost of living continues its upward trajectory, what does it mean for these groups at the margins? Are our current policies adequate in helping them meet their needs? And if not, how can we narrow this gap?

Join researchers Ng Kok Hoe and Teo Yeo Yenn, and AWARE’s Executive Director Corinna Lim, on Thursday, 13 January 2022, for a panel discussion on Minimum Income Standard and how it intersects with gender. The discussion will look at how gender shapes people’s ideas of needs and necessities—especially for mothers (both single and partnered), as well as working women.

This event is pay-what-you-can. Suggested donation of $5 per head.

Date: Thursday, 13 January 2022

Time: 7.30 – 9pm

Venue: Zoom

Register here!

Our panellists

Ng Bee Leng (moderator)

Ng Bee Leng is a social worker who cares deeply about poverty and social inequality. She is an official ABCD Guide, accredited by Nurture Development and ABCD Institute in Europe. She hopes to see Singapore as a society where communities are like homes, where helping a neighbour or stranger is as natural as helping a family member—a home where ground-up solutions are co-created with and by, rather than for, the community, and a home where we live out our pledge of justice and equality.

Ng Kok Hoe

Ng Kok Hoe is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Case Study Unit at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, where he also leads the Social Inclusion Project, a research programme dedicated to analysing how public policies shape opportunities for participation. His research is concerned with income security, minimum income standards, housing policy and homelessness. He led the first nationwide street count of homelessness in Singapore in 2019 and is co-editor of the book They Told Us to Move: Dakota—Cassia (Ethos Books, 2019).

Teo You Yenn

Teo You Yenn is Associate Professor, Provost’s Chair and Head of Sociology at the Nanyang Technological University. Her research focuses on poverty and inequality, governance and state-society dynamics, gender, and class. She is the author of Neoliberal Morality in Singapore: How family policies make state and society (Routledge, 2011) and This is What Inequality Looks Like (Ethos Books, 2018).

Corinna Lim

Corinna Lim is the Executive Director of AWARE, Singapore’s leading gender equality group. A respected leader in Singapore’s non-profit world, Corinna led the transformation of AWARE from a volunteer-led organisation to a professionally staffed organisation that substantially increased in size and impact. For over three decades, Corinna’s commitment to issues such as gender-equal workplaces, tackling workplace harassment and tackling domestic violence has been unwavering. Corinna draws from her entrepreneurial, management and leadership experience, and her expertise in law, gender equality and diversity/inclusion, to provide training and consultancy in workplace harassment, developing high-performing teams and more.