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SINGAPORE – More people received financial assistance from the government last year, and about 78,600 people benefited from various ComCare schemes, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said on Friday (October 9).
According to MSF’s ComCare Annual Report, there was an increase of around 4 percent in the number of financial aid recipients in their last financial year (FY2019), which ended on March 31, 2020, over the previous year.
The government awarded $ 151 million in cash assistance through ComCare schemes in fiscal year 2019. This represents a 19 percent jump from the 2018 financial year and is the largest amount disbursed in the past five years.
The Community Care Endowment Fund (ComCare Fund) is a key social safety net for low-income families and comprises schemes such as Short to Medium Term Assistance (SMTA) and Long Term Assistance (LTA).
Mr. Masagos Zulkifli, Minister of Social and Family Development, said: “There has been a general increase in the number of people who received support from ComCare in the last financial year. We have also seen a significant increase of 20 to 30 percent in ComCare applications in recent months, compared to the same period last year.
“As social needs grow and economic prospects remain uncertain, we will continue to reach out to those in need and focus our resources on those in greatest need.”
The increase in ComCare recipients was largely due to an increase of about 5 percent in SMTA recipients. SMTA provides temporary financial aid and other forms of assistance to help beneficiaries get through difficult times while looking for work or sick, among other reasons.
The majority of ComCare recipients, about 64,400 people, were in SMTA in the last financial year.
At the same time, the number of people enrolled in interim assistance plans increased by approximately 16 percent to approximately 7,700 in the last financial year.
Interim Assistance Plans are administered by social services offices and other community groups, such as Family Service Centers, to provide immediate financial assistance to those in need of temporary and urgent financial assistance.
About 9,600 children received assistance for student care fees in the last financial year, about 6 percent more than the previous year, due to the creation of more student care centers in schools, MSF said.
The only plan to counter the upward trend was the long-term assistance plan, also known as public assistance, which provides a cash sum to the homeless who are unable to work as a result of old age or illness and have little or no support. family.
The number of people with long-term assistance dropped by about 3 percent to about 4,400 in the last financial year as there were fewer ComCare applicants who were unable to work permanently and without family support, the MSF spokesperson said.
Mr. Koh Phee Kai, 70, has been in the Long Term Assistance program for approximately two years. He receives about $ 400 a month. The bachelor applied for financial aid after being fired from his security guard job in 2015.
He also receives $ 260 a month from his Central Provident Fund and uses the money to pay his expenses.
“The sum I receive now is less than half what I used to earn when I was working. But I can no longer work due to my bladder and bowel incontinence, so I have to rely on these payments,” said Koh, who lives alone. in a one-bedroom rental apartment.
To help Singaporeans weather this recession, MSF has automatically extended the Comcare plan for six months for beneficiaries whose aid is due to be reviewed this month. New recipients will also generally receive at least six months of assistance.
Masagos said: “Households in public rental apartments made up half of the beneficiaries, reinforcing the need to continue our ongoing outreach through SG Cares community networks. MSF will continue to work together with government agencies and community partners to help is available and accessible to Singaporeans in need. “
Joyz Tan, a senior social worker at Fei Yue Community Services, noted that many of the lowest paid workers are working part-time, temporary, or ad-hoc, and are the most likely to lose their jobs when business is down. .
Many of them also work in retail and food and beverages, sectors that were hit hard by the outbreak.
Madam Zaleha Ahmad, director of the Marriage Hub at AMP Singapore, said that many of the families at ComCare generally have only one breadwinner, on whose salary some members depend.
She added: “Even before the pandemic, many times their income was barely enough to cover their basic monthly needs. Many of them have little or no savings to protect themselves from the economic consequences of the pandemic. “
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