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SINGAPORE – Some 470,000 low-income Singaporean workers who are on the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme will receive $ 810 million in Workfare Special Payment (WSP) in October, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday (October 23).
In his ministerial statement on August 17, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat had announced that WSP eligibility will be expanded to include more than 70,000 additional workers, who will receive the WIS for their work performed in 2020 and are not yet receiving the WSP. .
These low-income Singaporean workers will receive their October pay from WSP starting October 28. Most of them would have qualified for WSP earlier and received their first payment of $ 1,500 in July for their work completed in 2019.
They will receive their final payment of $ 1,500 this month through a direct credit to their bank account on October 28, or by a check mailed to their residential address by November 15.
Introduced in 2007, Workfare is a permanent plan to supplement the wages of low-income workers and help them save for retirement.
Since then, $ 6.8 billion in Workfare payments have been awarded to approximately 890,000 beneficiaries. Aimed at Singaporean workers whose income is in the bottom 20 percent of the workforce, WIS is paid in the form of supplements from the Central Retirement Provident Fund, as well as cash to supplement earned income.
The WIS was improved beginning in 2020, with the qualifying income limit increased to $ 2,300 per month, and the maximum annual WIS payment increased to $ 4,000 per year.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Heng, who is also Finance Minister, wrote that Workfare and the progressive wage model are key policy innovations to lift low-income workers.
“Through Workfare, the government supplements their income with cash and CPF top-ups to cover their immediate and retirement needs,” he said.
He added that more is being done to help low-income workers during the pandemic.
“The Government is committed to helping all Singaporeans overcome this crisis, especially our low-income workers and the most vulnerable among us,” he said.
“We will also work with you to build a better and brighter future for all Singaporeans in a post-Covid world.”
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