MSF website will undergo scheduled maintenance on Saturday, 21 December, 10pm to Sunday, 22 December, 6am. During this maintenance period, users may experience intermittent access issues when accessing the website. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Beware of scams. MSF will not ask you to send money, give us your credit card information, banking login details or One-Time Passwords (OTP) via SMS or messaging apps. Learn more at Scam Advisory.
Have a question about MSF? Find quick answers with our chatbot Ask MSF or search for Frequently Asked Questions.

Supporting lower-income households towards stability, self-reliance, and social mobility

Type: Press Releases

Topic(s): Financial Assistance & Social Support

Published on 19 November 2024

  1. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has released the Supporting Lower-Income Households Trends Report (Report). The Report covers key trends in social support and the progress lower-income households are making to achieve stability, self-reliance, and social mobility (3S) for their families. It also highlights the collective responsibility that society has in supporting lower-income households to achieve 3S.
  2. The Report focuses on trends in Community Care (ComCare) assistance over the past five years (2019-2023), and situation of ComLink+1 families as at December 2023 since the nationwide rollout of ComLink+ in July 2023. This reflects the shift in emphasis from social assistance to social empowerment. This is set against the backdrop of overall household income trends, where lower-income households have experienced a higher real increase in per capita household income than the median household from 2018 to 2023.

ComCare

  1. ComCare provides financial assistance to support lower-income households to meet their daily living expenses, helping to stabilise their circumstances. It remains a key pillar of our social support system. The key trends are:
    • Decline in households assisted through ComCare. The number of households assisted through ComCare Short-to-Medium Term Assistance (SMTA) has been on a downward trend since 2021, reaching below pre-COVID levels in 2023 (from 36,853 in 2021 to 22,960 households in 2023). The number of households assisted through ComCare Long-Term Assistance (LTA) remained on a downward trend over the past five years (from 4,175 in 2019 to 3,479 in 2023). The decrease reflects post-COVID-19 economic recovery, younger cohorts of elderly having higher levels of savings, and support from other Government schemes.
    • Increase in median SMTA monthly cash assistance per beneficiary in assisted households over past five years, from $300 in 2019 to $370 in 2023. This increase reflects MSF’s efforts to ensure that ComCare coverage remains adequate through regular reviews.
    • Enhanced ComCare scheme bundles provide convenient support. As at December 2023, more than 8,000 automatic referrals to other support schemes were made, without the need for ComCare clients to make separate applications.
    • Decrease in return rates of households within 36 months of exit. The proportion of households that returned to SMTA within 36 months of exit fell from 61% and 63% for the 2018 and 2019 cohorts respectively, to 54% for the 2020 cohort. MSF is looking into the challenges faced by these households to find ways to better support them. ComLink+ is one of the ways to support these families with children.

ComLink+

  1. Although ComCare ensures families meet their basic living expenses in the short term, households may face complex challenges and find it difficult to sustain progress. Hence, as part of ForwardSG, MSF has shifted our focus from providing assistance for basic needs to empowering families to achieve their aspirations via ComLink+. This involves proactively reaching out to families to co-develop action plans, and organising support around each family’s unique needs, aspirations, and strengths.
  2. A total of 9,153 families residing in public rental housing had agreed to work with MSF as at December 2023. The Report presents a snapshot of the situation of these families based on eight outcomes across three domains. As at December 2023, ComLink+ families faced challenges in the areas of income security, preschool attendance, and home ownership.
    • Income security. 61% of ComLink+ families were in stable employment2. 68% of ComLink+ families were not on financial assistance3, and 51% of ComLink+ families enjoyed real income growth. 33% of ComLink+ families had met all three aforementioned outcomes.
    • Children’s development and education. 85% of ComLink+ families with preschool-aged children were enrolled in preschool, but only 26% of ComLink+ families with preschool-aged children in Anchor Operator (AOP) preschools were attending regularly4 in 2023.
    • Housing. 79% of ComLink+ families had less than three months of rental arrears, and 66% of ComLink+ families do not yet have substantial savings for home ownership5. While 26% of ComLink+ families had less than three months of rental arrears and accumulated substantial savings for a home, 93% of this group had yet to buy a flat and move out of public rental housing.
  3. The ComLink+ Progress Packages for Preschool, Employment, Debt Clearance and Home Ownership that MSF is progressively rolling out will supplement the efforts of families that are taking active steps towards the 3S.

Supporting lower-income households towards the 3S is a collective responsibility

  1. ComLink+ is an example of the refreshed social compact where all play a part to uplift families in need. As at end-2023, corporate partners have committed $31.2 million to the ComLink+ Progress Packages. Corporate organisations have partnered MSF and brought their time, talent and treasures to support 402 ComLink+ programmes and activities.
  2. Minister for Social and Family Development, Mr Masagos Zulkifli, said: “MSF’s approach to social support has evolved from providing social assistance to social empowerment, where individual effort is complemented by support from the Government, the family, and the community. This Trends Report provides a reference on how we can continue to strengthen support for lower-income households and journey alongside them towards stability, self-reliance, and social mobility. Uplifting those in need is a collective effort. I encourage more members of the community and corporates to come on board with us on this journey.”
  3. The full report can be found at: go.gov.sg/msflowerincometrendsreport2024.

Supporting Lower-Income Households Trends Report

1ComLink+ empowers families with support over the longer-term to build better lives for themselves and their children.

2Stable employment refers to being in employment for six consecutive months or more in a year.

3This includes all forms of ComCare assistance, Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) Zakat financial assistance, MINDEF National Serviceman (NSF) financial assistance, and Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) assistance that are given directly to individuals/families to help with living expenses, excluding other grants and subsidies.

4This is based on whether ComLink+ children who were enrolled in AOP preschools had achieved an average monthly attendance rate of 75% or higher.

5A household is deemed to have “substantial savings” if their CPF Ordinary Account (OA) balances can cover at least 20% of the estimated price for a 3-room Build-To-Order flat in a non-mature estate in 2023. This is only meant as a rough proxy, as households may also tap on a combination of HDB housing grants and loans to afford their flat purchase.