https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...-term-financial-aid-from-government-to-get-by
More families depending on long-term financial aid from Government to get by: MSF
There were 4,409 households on the Government scheme run by the Ministry of Social and Family Development in the 2017 financial year, up from 4,387 families in the preceding 12 months.ST PHOTO: JASMINE CHOONG
Published
Oct 4, 2018, 6:30 pm SGT
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Theresa Tan
Senior Social Affairs Correspondent
SINGAPORE - Increasing numbers of seniors who cannot work due to old age or illness and a lack of family support are behind the steady increase in the number of families receiving long-term financial aid.
There were 4,409 households on the government scheme run by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) in the 2017 financial year, up from 4,387 families in the preceding 12 months.
The 2017 figure was 24 per cent more than the 3,568 families on the scheme in 2013.
Social workers and sociologists told The Straits Times that the increase in those needing long-term support was due to a range of factors, from Singapore's ageing society to more people remaining single and shrinking family sizes.
Elderly folk in the scheme used to hold low-paying jobs and may now find themselves in dire straits when they fall ill or cannot work due to old age.
With fewer children, and if the children themselves are also struggling to cope financially, it is harder for them to support their elderly parents in need, said Mrs Tan-Wu Meiling, executive director of Shine Children and Youth Services. That forces many of these seniors to turn to the Government for aid.
More families depending on long-term financial aid from Government to get by: MSF
There were 4,409 households on the Government scheme run by the Ministry of Social and Family Development in the 2017 financial year, up from 4,387 families in the preceding 12 months.ST PHOTO: JASMINE CHOONG
Published
Oct 4, 2018, 6:30 pm SGT
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Email
Theresa Tan
Senior Social Affairs Correspondent
SINGAPORE - Increasing numbers of seniors who cannot work due to old age or illness and a lack of family support are behind the steady increase in the number of families receiving long-term financial aid.
There were 4,409 households on the government scheme run by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) in the 2017 financial year, up from 4,387 families in the preceding 12 months.
The 2017 figure was 24 per cent more than the 3,568 families on the scheme in 2013.
Social workers and sociologists told The Straits Times that the increase in those needing long-term support was due to a range of factors, from Singapore's ageing society to more people remaining single and shrinking family sizes.
Elderly folk in the scheme used to hold low-paying jobs and may now find themselves in dire straits when they fall ill or cannot work due to old age.
With fewer children, and if the children themselves are also struggling to cope financially, it is harder for them to support their elderly parents in need, said Mrs Tan-Wu Meiling, executive director of Shine Children and Youth Services. That forces many of these seniors to turn to the Government for aid.
