Low-income Families
Contents
Definitions and Scope
Target Population: [name of target group]
[identify target group and define who is included or excluded in this category: you want to get it just right: not too broad that it includes those you may not want to include, and not too narrow that it excludes those you want to help. You might be too exclusive: e.g. defining ‘vulnerable’ seniors as ‘low-income’, but you may want to include those without family support. Therefore, you may want to define vulnerable as ‘poor and/or with low family support’. You might be too inclusive: e.g. ‘latchkey kids’ may include those who have working parents, or those with serious behavioural problems.]
Singapore has no official measurement of what constitutes poverty. Based on the Minimum Household Expenditure, or actual expenditure for a subsistence budget, multiplied by 1.25, we identified the poverty line to be in the range of gross income of $1,500 to $1,700 per household per month (Asher, G. A., & Nandy, A. (2008). Singapore’s Policy Responses to Ageing, Inequality and Poverty: An assessment. Social Security Association International Social Security Review, 61(1), 41-60).
Client Segments
[Eg. For at risk youth, some could have behavioural problems and be beyond parental control. Others could merely be disengaged and bored in school. Because it seems like different engagement strategies can be customized to these sub-types, it may make sense to segmentize.]
Size of the Problem
[Size of the universe (size of total potential need/demand for services)]
[Size of expressed need (those receiving services and on waitlist)]
In 2015, the number of young Singaporeans, below 35, with a monthly household income of $1,900 or less, or a per capita income of under $650 was 29,511 (Ministry of Social and Family Development, 2016). As of June 2016, 41,500 people aged between 15 and 34 earned under $1,000 per month (Ministry of Manpower, 2016).
23 per cent of persons over 65 in the formal workforce were also found to be earning less than $1,000 a month (Ministry of Manpower, 2016). Among the working elderly, the poverty rate more than tripled from 13 per cent in 1995, to 28 per cent in 2005, to 41 per cent in 2011 (Ng, K.H. (forthcoming). Incomes and poverty during old age in Singapore. In Report on ageing in Singapore. Singapore: Tsao Foundation.). It was estimated that 6 in 10 elderly people in Singapore in 2011 were poor (Cunico, Lim & Han, 2017).
Desired impact for target group
[If we have no conception of what counts as a ‘good death’, ‘social inclusion’, ‘engaged youth’ , then it would not be possible to determine whether our policies and services are performing well]
Needs of [insert client type]
Need for [ insert description ]
[Needs should not be identified in term of its specific solutions—eg youths need mentoring, seniors need hospice care, people with disabilities need day care (these are specific solutions we can be in the next column)—Instead, they should be defined in more ‘perennial terms’ because the solutions can change but the needs remain; I don’t need a CD player, or even an mp3 player, I need ‘portable music’ and currently the best solution seems to be Spotify]
[Also indicate the size of this specific need & projected demand were data is available]
Existing Resources
[e.g. existing services or programmes both private or public; relevant policies and legislation]
Gaps and Their Causes
[Some gaps could be due to 1) capacity of solution to meet size & projected demand, 2) quality of solution (effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, scalability etc.), 3) accessibility (geographical, cost to client)]
Possible Solutions
[Based on the specific gaps and reasons for those gaps, what might be solutions that can help? Insert existing but untapped resources, or new ideas that have not been considered yet]
Need for [ insert description ]
Existing Resources
Gaps and Their Causes
Possible Solutions
Need for [ insert description ]
Existing Resources
Gaps and Their Causes
Possible Solutions
Need for [ insert description ]
Existing Resources
Gaps and Their Causes
Possible Solutions
Need for [ insert description ]
Existing Resources
Gaps and Their Causes
Possible Solutions
Resource Directory
Mainly I Love Kids (MILK)
Catholic Welfare Services
http://www.catholicwelfare.org.sg/