Singapore Strengthens Inclusivity for Persons with Disabilities

The Ministry of Social and Family Development and National Council of Social Service have released the first Disability Trends Report. The report provides key statistical trends related to Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and their caregivers in areas such as inclusive employment, quality of life, caregiving support and public attitudes towards PwDs.

Profile of Adults with Disabilities Known to Government

2               Physical disability, intellectual disability and hearing loss were the most common disability types amongst PwDs, who are currently using, or have previously enrolled in or applied for government disability-related schemes, programmes or services.

1. Among PwDs aged 19 and above known to government as of Dec 2023, the most common disability types were physical disability (34.4%), followed by intellectual disability (19.2%) and hearing loss (16.0%).

3               The proportion of those with physical disability was highest among those aged 65 and above. 62.4% of those aged 65 and above were diagnosed with a physical disability, compared to only 7.3% for those aged 19 – 34.

More PwDs are Employed and Have Full-Time Jobs

4               A higher proportion of PwDs are in employment. The average resident employment rate[1] for PwDs aged 15 – 64 increased from 28.2% in 2018/2019 to 32.7% in 2022/2023.

1. The proportion of employed PwDs in full-time employment increased from 74.5% in 2018/2019 to 79.7% in 2022/2023.

    

2. The median income among PwDs has continued to grow over the years, rising from $2,630 in 2018/2019 to $4,242 in 2022/2023.    

PwDs Reported Higher Quality of Life

5               PwDs reported higher overall Quality of Life (QOL) scores[2] in 2024 compared to 2015. The overall QOL score increased from 53.8 points in 2015 to 56.2 points in 2024. Compared to 2015, PwDs in 2024 scored higher in the Social Relationships and Psychological domains.

Physical Environments are Largely Accessible and Inclusive

6               Physical environments are largely accessible, especially public transport and public spaces. In 2024, 79.8% of buildings and 99.5% of public spaces[3] have achieved basic accessibility. 83.4% of PwDs used some form of public transport in the past year in 2023, with 74.2% of them reported feeling satisfied with their access to public transport[4].

Caregivers are Resilient and Supported

7               1 in 4 caregivers of PwDs were 65 years old and above, with a median age of 57 years old. The majority of the caregivers (67.9%) were females[5].

8               The majority of caregivers of PwDs are resilient and feel supported. 80.0% of caregivers of PwDs reported moderate to high family resilience scores[6]. 89.9% of caregivers reported high levels of perceived social support[7] and 87.2% of them reported low levels of caregiving burden[8].

Attitudes towards PwDs were Generally Positive with lower scores at Workplaces

9               Attitudes from the public were generally positive towards PwDs. Based on the National Council of Social Service’s Public Attitudes Towards Persons with Disabilities Study (PAS)[9], 68.9% of respondents reported positive attitudes towards PwDs in 2023, compared to 76.8% in 2019. There was a higher proportion reporting neutral attitudes from 21.5% in 2019 to 28.6% in 2023 and a stable proportion reporting negative attitudes between 2019 and 2023.

10            The drop in positive attitudes toward PwDs was due to a decrease in positive attitudes toward persons with disabilities in the workplace. While a majority of respondents reported positive attitudes towards PwDs in the school setting and learning context, the proportion of respondents who reported positive attitudes towards PwDs in the workplace decreased from 59.6% in 2019 to 50.6% in 2023.

11            This decline could be attributed to several factors, such as the gap in awareness and understanding of the capabilities of PwDs. Despite the decline, it is worth noting that public attitudes have remained stable around public access and social inclusion, indicating that Singaporeans generally support providing more accessible spaces for PwDs, such as in transportation. In addition, public attitudes towards supporting PwDs, such as to provide help in schools, remained positive, demonstrating that Singaporeans recognise that more needs to be done to include PwDs in mainstream settings.

12            The proportion of positive public attitudes remained stable for physical disability and decreased for other disability types. The largest drops were recorded for less visible disabilities like intellectual disability (68.4% in 2019 to 57.3% in 2023) and autism (69.9% in 2019 to 56.2% in 2023).

13            In summary, these findings highlighted the need for a greater emphasis on showcasing the capabilities of PwDs, rather than focusing solely on the types of support available to them and more education about the different types of disabilities.

Strengthening Support to PwDs to Participate Fully as Integral and Contributing Members of Society

14            Singapore continues to make progress in enabling PwDs to live independently and participate meaningfully in society, so that they can achieve their full potential. By enhancing support systems and creating inclusive environments, the Government is committed to building a caring and disability-inclusive society. Please see Annex A for the list of recent programmes to support PwDs and their families.

15            Senior Parliamentary Secretary (SPS) at the Ministry of Social and Family Development, Mr Eric Chua said, “Singapore has made progress over the years to become more disability inclusive. We hope for more persons with disabilities to experience better quality of life and greater opportunities to participate meaningfully in society. However, we must continue to raise public awareness, especially less visible disabilities, such as intellectual disability and autism, and foster inclusive workplaces. Disability inclusion is a collective effort - employers, families, and communities all play a critical role in building a Singapore where everyone feels valued and supported. Together, let us realise Enabling Masterplan 2030’s vision to build a more inclusive and caring society.”

16            The Disability Trends report can be found at: https://go.gov.sg/disabilitytrends2024

- END -

ISSUED BY

MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE

For media enquiries, please contact:

Annex A: Recent Initiatives to Support PwDs and their Families

With a focus on enhancing support systems, creating inclusive environments, and fostering positive public attitudes, the Government is committed to building a caring and disability-inclusive society. Recent initiatives to support PwDs and their families include:

Enabling Masterplan 2030 Strategic Theme I: Strengthen Support For Lifelong Learning In A Fast-Changing Economy

1. Focal Area 1: Early Years – Expanded the Development Support-Learning Support (DS-LS) to about 900 preschools, piloted the Inclusive Support Programme (InSP) in 7 preschool sites, appointed Inclusion Coordinators (ICOs) in about 90% of preschools and equipped current and upcoming Early Childhood educators with key skillsets to support the learning needs of and care for children with developmental needs.

    

2. Focal Area 2: Schooling Years – Established more SPED schools, reduced maximum monthly school fees for Singaporean students and strengthened programmes in mainstream and SPED schools, including teacher training, specialised interventions, and curriculum enhancements.

    

3. Focal Area 3: Beyond Schooling Years – Curated over 300 accessible training courses via SG Enable’s Enabling Academy and launched a new Enabling Skills and Competencies Framework to empower PwDs to develop relevant skills for work and independent living.

    

   Enabling Masterplan 2030 Strategic Theme II: Enable Persons With Disabilities To Live Independently

    

4. Focal Area 4: Inclusive Employment – Announced recommendations from the Enabling Masterplan 2030 Taskforce on Promoting Inclusive Employment Practices that we will work on. This includes leveraging inclusive hiring champions to engage and inspire others to hire inclusively, enhancing support for employers to have inclusive hiring practices, improving support for PwDs in short-term assignments (“gig jobs”) and refreshing skillsets, articulating competencies required and career pathways for job coaches.

    

5. Focal Area 5: Inclusive Living – Established Enabling Services Hubs (ESHs), bringing integrated, person-centric disability services closer to where PwDs and their caregivers live, with hubs in Tampines (2023) and upcoming ones in Jurong and Punggol (2025). Announced recommendations from the Enabling Masterplan 2030 Taskforce on Community Living for Persons with Disabilities that we will work on. This includes reviewing existing programmes to provide a continuous development pathway for PwDs to acquire and maintain independent living and vocational skills, piloting the Enabled Living Programme (ELP) to support persons with disabilities to continue living in the community for as long as possible and establishing a person- and family-centred planning framework and process to better support PwDs and their caregivers across life stages.

    

   Enabling Masterplan 2030 Strategic Theme III: Create Physical And Social Environments That Are Inclusive To Persons With Disabilities

    

6. Focal Area 8: Inclusive Communications – Established GovTech’s Accessibility Enabling Team (A11y Team), which has worked on several initiatives, including the automated accessibility testing tool Oobee (formerly known as Purple A11y), to eventually make 100% of high-traffic government websites accessible by 2030.

    

7. Focal Area 9: Inclusive Transport – Upgraded transport infrastructure, including Green Man+ crossings, Heart Zones and inclusive bus features, and expanded the Helping Hand scheme.

    

8. Focal Area 12: Inclusive Sports – Announced 10 strategic moves under the Disability Sports Master Plan that we will work on, to have more PwDs to be engaged, enriched and empowered through sports.

    

9. Focal Area 14: Inclusive Communities – Launched public education initiatives, including SG Enable’s i’mable Public Education initiative to encourage everyone to take positive action for disability inclusion and the High Impact Retention and Employment (HIRE) Workshop series, which equips organisations with the knowledge and skills to hire and integrate PwDs in the workplace.

+++