Children from Low Income Families

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Definitions and Scope

Children from Low Income Families  

Increasing Inequality

A static measure of inequality is the Gini coefficient, which has a value ranging from zero to one. When the income distribution is more unequal, the Gini coefficient has a larger value. 

Country	Before Taxes and Transfers	After Taxes and Transfers	Differences
Singapore	0.464	0.412	0.052
United States	0.486	0.345	0.141
United Kingdom	0.456	0.345	0.111
Australia	0.468	0.336	0.132
Japan	0.462	0.329	0.133
Germany	0.504	0.295	0.209

A comparison of Gini Coefficients in 2015, from dollarsandsense.sg

Income Inequality in Singapore

• Steady increase in Gini Coefficient throughout its development history.
• In 2017, the Gini Coefficient stood at 0.459 (before taking into account Government transfers and taxes) – little changed from 2016’s 0.458 which was the lowest in a decade.
• 2 highest peaks in the past decade were 0.482 and 0.478 in 2007 and 2012[1]
• 73 per cent of Singapore’s wealth is owned by the wealthiest 20 per cent.[2]

A high level of income inequality could have implications for social and intergenerational mobility when accessibility to resources for the betterment of self and family in terms of work and education becomes stratified according to social and economic status. This leads inequality becoming sticky or entrenched where there are limited opportunities for one to move oneself or one's children from a lower socioeconomic rung to a higher one. Income growth has indeed slowed for less well-off families in Singapore. There is also an increasing number young Singaporeans in need and relying on government handouts.Inequality also results in divisions across social classes which again has the potential effect of cementing stratification. A study of social capital in Singapore reveals that there was strong evidence for socialisation to occur along class-based lines, reflecting increasingly clear social divide.

Poverty, Absolute Poverty and Relative Poverty

Absolute Poverty

Relative Poverty

Income or consumption below a minimum level required for basic needs Also known as the poverty line Line is then consolidated into a measure of poverty for the entire society.[1] No official definition of what absolute poverty is in Singapore i.e. Singapore has yet to establish an official poverty line.

Closely linked to inequality Relative poverty line could also be an indicator of inequality as it is 'based on the notion that an individual’s perception of poverty depends upon his/ her relative position in the surrounding environment.' Poverty in this instance is dependent on the changes in the general living standard.[1] An upward trend of living standards would therefore lead to rising relative poverty levels.

Past studies have given the following estimates of absolute and relative poverty in Singapore to be the following:

Source	Reference Year	Measurement Method	Poverty Estimate
Absolute Poverty Estimates
Yeoh Lam Keong, mimeo (2013)	2011	Using household income of S$1,250 (2012 ahebn estimate) to S$1,500 per month as a poverty line. estimated number of working poor + unemployed poor + retired poor households based on data from the department of statistics (dos) for 2011.	10–12 per cent or 110,000–140,000 singapore resident households
Jacqueline loh, Social Space “bottom fifth in singapore” (2011)	2008	Using S$1,500 as a poverty line (the qualifying level for many comcare schemes in 2011) and looking at the income distribution across quintiles for all households, not only “employed households.” this data is only available every five years from the household expenditure survey (hes).	12–14 per cent or 130,000–150,000 singapore resident households
Below Social Inclusion Levels Estimates
The Straits Times, “Widening Wage gap, does it matter?” (2010)	2008	Reports that a family of four would need S$2,500–S$3,000 per month to reach the social inclusion level of income. (estimated by lcsi from 2007/2008 household expenditure survey.)	23–26 per cent or 250,000–280,000 singapore resident households with monthly incomes below s$3,000
Relative Poverty Estimates
Lien centre analysis based on the HES 2007/08	2008	Using 50 per cent of median household income amongst resident households, relative poverty line is at S$2,500.	20–22 per cent of all households
Asher & nandy, “Singapore’s policy response to ageing, inequality & poverty” (2008)	2006	Measuring relative poverty through estimation of workers that are eligible for the Workfare income supplement (Wis) when it was first introduced in 2007. eligibility criteria included having a monthly salary of less than S$1,500.	26 per cent or about one out of four workers would have been potential beneficiaries of the WIS.

Taken from Measuring Poverty in Singapore: Frameworks for Consideration

Families on ComCare assistance increases, taken from the Straits Times

The impacts of income inequality and relative poverty on children from low income families are manifold:

Impact Segment	Aspects of Impact
Education and Learning	Though Primary education is largely free for all Singapore citizens in schools under the purview of the Ministry of Education, the education landscape is extremely competitive and dominated by private tuition and enrichment. Meanwhile there is no state standardised curriculum in the Early Childhood Education in Singapore and access to quality early childhood education is extremely stratified. Research shows that children from lower-income families tend to have poorer educational outcomes. Within Singapore, socio-economic differences accounted for a variation of 17% for student performances in Science, higher than the average of 13% across 35 countries.
Parenting and Caregiving	Children from low income families do not have consistent and stable adult presence in their lives. Care arrangements for them can very often be absent or unhealthy for development, for e.g., being locked in their own houses for long periods of time. They also lack the support of an involved parent in their education and schooling. AWARE's research findings on low income mothers reveal that formal childcare was not always available to their respondents, who have had to grapple with barriers such as high financial and compliance cost, distance, long waiting times or no vacancies, and unsatisfactory quality, in accessing public childcare. Low income mothers predominantly face "challenges of low wages, erratic working hours that do not match with childcare centre hours, discriminatory or inflexible employers, and lack of benefits such as paid leave and protection from termination" Low income parents are typically employed in shift work with long hours, affecting their abilities to provide care or be present in the lives of their children especially in relation to schooling for e.g. homework help.
Socio-emotional Needs	Research has long established the impact of poverty on children's socio-emotional wellbeing. Maternal education attainment, household income, and symptoms of depression have lasting impact on a child’s social competence in early childhood. Low socioeconomic status is associated with authoritarian and detached parenting. Children of low-income families face multiple stressors in day-to-day life. This can range from household conflicts, incarcerated parents, divorced or single parents, to family members with special needs. Constant chronic stress impacts their physical, social and emotional growth. It can result in consequences like poor health (e.g. higher blood pressure, weaker immunity) or negatively affect their attention span, behaviour or ability to delay gratification (Mathews & Chan, 2015).

Size of Target Population

In the last Population Census in 2010, there were at least 38, 305 children below the age of 12 from households with a total monthly income below 3000 dollars, just below half the median income level of 3226 dollars and income at the 20^th percentile of 3219. This is an approximate base percentage of 8% of the entire population of Singaporean children aged below 12 in 2010. At least 20,807 households with children below age 12 had heads of household with either no qualification or only primary school qualification. At least 53,493 households with children below age 12 had parents who were blue-collar workers. 

Desired Outcomes| |

The prominent developmental psychologist, Bronfenbrenner, conceptualises human development as "the process through which the growing person acquires a more extended, differentiated, and valid conception of the ecological environment, and becomes motivated and able to engage in activities that reveal the properties of, sustain, or restructure that environment at levels of similar or greater complexity in form and content."

Based on his conceptualisation, desired outcomes of childhood would be

Needs of (name of target group)| | 

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Need for (insert description)| | 

• A need should be defined from the perspective of the target group, and not others such as the people or services serving them.
• Needs should not be identified in term of its specific solutions, e.g. youths need mentoring, seniors need hospice care, people with disabilities need day care. Instead, they should be defined in more ‘perennial terms’ because the solutions can change where needs remain
  • For example, 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.
• Where data is available, indicate the size of this specific need & projected demand, e.g., there is 1 million children, with 1.2 million projected in ten years time. You can locate such information through research, using proxies or getting inputs from key stakeholders where data is unavailable such as the government, community agencies, legislators etc.
• Include a synoptic statement - a summary of how existing resources (if any) have been meeting the need, and gaps that still exist
  • For example, "Even though there are 1,510 childcare centres across Singapore[1], 80% of low-income single mothers cannot afford them as they earn less than $1,500 a month.

STATISTICS 7,000 children aged 6 and below have developmental difficulties as of 2015[2] Between 2010 and 2014, KKH and NUS screenings show a 76% increase in children 6 and below with developmental issues such as development delays, speech and language delays, learning difficulties and autism spectrum disorders (ASD)[3]

EXISTING RESOURCES	GAPS AND THEIR CAUSES	POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Existing services or programmes both private or public, including relevant policies and legislation, to meet the need. (e.g., Childcare Centres)	Find these out from relevant sources - newspapers, reports, surveys, interviews with key stakeholders etc. 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)]	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.

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Need for (insert description)| | 

• (Synoptic Statement)

STATISTICS (e.g., there are 1 million children in Singapore - please cite)

EXISTING RESOURCES	GAPS AND THEIR CAUSES	POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Existing services or programmes both private or public, including relevant policies and legislation, to meet the need. (e.g., Childcare Centres)	Find these out from relevant sources - newspapers, reports, surveys, interviews with key stakeholders etc. 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)]	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.

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Need for (insert description)| | 

• (Synoptic Statement)

STATISTICS (e.g., there are 1 million children in Singapore - please cite)

EXISTING RESOURCES	GAPS AND THEIR CAUSES	POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Existing services or programmes both private or public, including relevant policies and legislation, to meet the need. (e.g., Childcare Centres)	Find these out from relevant sources - newspapers, reports, surveys, interviews with key stakeholders etc. 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)]	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.

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Resource Directory| | 

[insert organization name]| | 

Insert web link

[insert organization name]| | 

Insert web link

1. Jump up ↑ https://data.gov.sg/dataset/list-of-childcare-centres
2. Jump up ↑ https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/big-read-special-needs-children-pre-school-not-given-0
3. Jump up ↑ https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/more-preschoolers-diagnosed-developmental-issues