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Survey: Income Disparity in SG Worst Among Developed Countries

makapaaa

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[h=1]SALARY.SG: HOW DOES SINGAPORE REALLY STACK UP AGAINST THE REST OF THE WORLD?[/h]
<!-- /.block --> <style>.node-article .field-name-link-line-above-tags{float: right;}.node-article .field-name-ad-box-in-article {float: left;margin: 15px 15px 10px 0;}.node-article .field-tags{clear: both;}</style> Post date:
5 Oct 2014 - 3:55pm





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We previously looked at the figures offered in the Singstat report and it suggests that all is well and that the economy is constantly improving in the country. This article will look at figures from around the world to examine how good the numbers for key income trends really are when compared to the rest of the world.
1. Singapore’s Median Household income is higher than most countries.
The increase in the amount of the median household income for household where at least one person is working has increased from S$7,570 (6,050 USD) in 2012 to S$7,870 (6,290 USD) monthly in 2013 according to the report. This means the median household income is 75,480 USD annually. According to Gallup, the median annual household income worldwide is 9,733 USD, and the median per-capita household income is 2,920 USD. The figure for median per-capita household income in Singapore is S$2,247 per month (21,480 USD annually), up from S$2,127 (20,400 USD annually). So, according to the report, both the figures for household income and per capita income show that Singapore are far ahead of the respective worldwide medians. Gallup’s polls put Norway at the top of the figures with median household income at USD 51,489 and per capita income at USD 19,308. Benin, Rwanda and Liberia are among the lowest earning countries and you can see how ridiculously unequal income distribution is across the world.
countries-income.png

However, we need to note the figures in the Singstat report are tabulated only for households where at least one person works and do not take into account households where no one is working. The government puts the amount of households where at least one person works at 91 percent of all households with 9 percent of households comprising of “retirees” (households made up of non-working people aged 60 and over). These non-working households may have income from non-work sources, e.g. income from rental, investment, contribution from relatives/friends, social welfare grants, etc.

2. GINI coefficient decreased.

The GINI coefficient stood at 0.463 in 2013 in Singapore before taxes and transfers, and 0.412 after taxes and transfers. However, Singapore calculates the GINI coefficient based on household income from work per household member, unlike OECD which uses a “square root scale” to take into account the fact that households may enjoy certain economies of scale because they can share the income between the members of the household. By any measure, Singapore does have one of the worst income inequalities in the group of economically developed OECD countries. Singapore’s GINI coefficient was the highest in 2012. It went down in 2013.
Since the 2013 figures for other countries are not widely available, we will compare 2012 figures. Doing so will still give us a general idea of how income distribution in Singapore stacks up against the other countries.

countries-gini-2012.png




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In 2012, according to OECD, Singapore had the highest GINI coefficient among OECD countries at 0.414, with the United States second at 0.378, and Denmark the most equal at 0.248. However, the report indicates that government schemes have increased redistribution of income. This is the reason why we are witnessing a decrease in Singapore’s GINI coefficient in 2013.

*Article first appeared on http://www.salary.sg
 

zhihau

Super Moderator
SuperMod
Asset
Why is it that our median household income is higher than that of other developed countries? Care to shed some light on the median number of working individuals in each of the household of the countries compared in the statistics?
 

Leongsam

High Order Twit / Low SES subject
Admin
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There is nothing wrong with a high GINI coefficient. It means that the talented are getting their worth and the idiots are not being overpaid.
 

hofmann

Alfrescian
Loyal
There is nothing wrong with a high GINI coefficient. It means that the talented are getting their worth and the idiots are not being overpaid.

nonsense. it means we have a top heavy society exploiting the bottom.
 

frenchbriefs

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Asset
nonsense. it means we have a top heavy society exploiting the bottom.

i agree.....singapore is showing signs of a pyramid shaped society....thats why we are busy importing cheaper better faster to support the pyramid structure at the bottom cause the number of idiots at the top is expanding rapidly.......76 redundant mps,and god knows how many ministers whose profile dont even fit the job description in the first place and the number of paper generals and ceos of glcs and PAP grassloots and organisational board of directors.
 

winnipegjets

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There is nothing wrong with a high GINI coefficient. It means that the talented are getting their worth and the idiots are not being overpaid.

How many talented people are there? 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent? So, the untalented do not deserve to have live decently?
Get real lah ...the majority of people are not going to be rich but they deserve a middle-income existence. And that is the role of the government to provide for that.
 

Leongsam

High Order Twit / Low SES subject
Admin
Asset
How many talented people are there? 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent? So, the untalented do not deserve to have live decently?
Get real lah ...the majority of people are not going to be rich but they deserve a middle-income existence. And that is the role of the government to provide for that.

Life is what you make of it. Nobody has some sort of inherent right to live "decently" and the term itself is open to wide interpretation. In the eyes of the rest of the world, even the lower income Singaporeans enjoy a very decent standard of living. Nobody is starving to death. Nobody is dying of cold or exposure or left to rot in the streets.

The fact that Singaporeans enjoy one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world is testimony to this fact.
 

hofmann

Alfrescian
Loyal
the incumbent PAP who began as the underdogs, have become the fat cats they sought to kick out. how ironic. indeed, 4 legs good, 2 legs bad.

i agree.....singapore is showing signs of a pyramid shaped society....thats why we are busy importing cheaper better faster to support the pyramid structure at the bottom cause the number of idiots at the top is expanding rapidly.......76 redundant mps,and god knows how many ministers whose profile dont even fit the job description in the first place and the number of paper generals and ceos of glcs and PAP grassloots and organisational board of directors.
 

johnny333

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Let market forces rule. Each job has a point where demand meets supply.


In Spore there is no such thing as "market forces". Spore Inc is owned by Lee & sons & daughter.
Ah Lee has been flooding the Spore labor market with millions of 3rd world labor. The practise is called wage dumping.
 

frenchbriefs

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Life is what you make of it. Nobody has some sort of inherent right to live "decently" and the term itself is open to wide interpretation. In the eyes of the rest of the world, even the lower income Singaporeans enjoy a very decent standard of living. Nobody is starving to death. Nobody is dying of cold or exposure or left to rot in the streets.

The fact that Singaporeans enjoy one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world is testimony to this fact.

yawnz.....with 630 billion in soverign wealth funds and 41 billion collected in taxes every year u think we can do better than that.....hell all of us would be swimming in money if we each had a equal share of the pie.
 

Leongsam

High Order Twit / Low SES subject
Admin
Asset
yawnz.....with 630 billion in soverign wealth funds and 41 billion collected in taxes every year u think we can do better than that.....hell all of us would be swimming in money if we each had a equal share of the pie.

The pie is there. It is up to each individual to fight for his/her share. Nobody is going to hand it to you on a platter.
 

johnny333

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
yawnz.....with 630 billion in soverign wealth funds and 41 billion collected in taxes every year u think we can do better than that.....hell all of us would be swimming in money if we each had a equal share of the pie.


When they finally open the accounts of the sovereign fund to the public, the 60% will probably head for the Bedok reservoir.
 

hofmann

Alfrescian
Loyal
agree that no one has an inherent right to live to "decently", but we do have a right to choose a government that can make life better instead of worse. the top 20% and bottom 10% are well taken care of. what about the other 70%? it appears they have been abandoned by the government to sink or swim at their own peril. all this talk about rising tides lifting all boats... bunk. statistics back this up.

Life is what you make of it. Nobody has some sort of inherent right to live "decently" and the term itself is open to wide interpretation. In the eyes of the rest of the world, even the lower income Singaporeans enjoy a very decent standard of living. Nobody is starving to death. Nobody is dying of cold or exposure or left to rot in the streets.

The fact that Singaporeans enjoy one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world is testimony to this fact.
 

Leongsam

High Order Twit / Low SES subject
Admin
Asset
agree that no one has an inherent right to live to "decently", but we do have a right to choose a government that can make life better instead of worse. the top 20% and bottom 10% are well taken care of. what about the other 70%? it appears they have been abandoned by the government to sink or swim at their own peril. all this talk about rising tides lifting all boats... bunk. statistics back this up.

Go ahead and make the choice then. As far as I can see the majority of Singaporeans are satisfied with the government. That is why the PAP has been in power for the last half a century.
 

hofmann

Alfrescian
Loyal
Go ahead and make the choice then. As far as I can see the majority of Singaporeans are satisfied with the government. That is why the PAP has been in power for the last half a century.

A rapidly shrinking majority that may not last the next half century.
 

hofmann

Alfrescian
Loyal
Let market forces rule. Each job has a point where demand meets supply.

Market forces have been distorted by the cheap supply of foreign labour. Or take it to the other extreme and remove all quota limits and let companies binge on as much cheap labour as they want. We're now in a half-F no man's land with some quotas, some levies.
 

Leongsam

High Order Twit / Low SES subject
Admin
Asset
Market forces have been distorted by the cheap supply of foreign labour. Or take it to the other extreme and remove all quota limits and let companies binge on as much cheap labour as they want. We're now in a half-F no man's land with some quotas, some levies.

Market forces would be distorted if there was no supply of cheap labour from abroad. That's what happened in the early 80s and Singapore ended up in an almighty recession as companies were crippled by the high cost of all levels of staff because of the shortage of supply.

Now that there is an abundant supply of labour, hiring costs are far more reasonable and in line with productivity levels.
 
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