Introduction

Introduction:
Singapore,poverty and content

Singapore is recognized as one of the most economically well-to-do Asian country and may seem to have hardly any of its population below poverty. However, hidden beneath the surface are a minority people in state of poverty. This is more prevalent in the elderly, disabled, single mothers and low incomers but the main contributors to poverty are still the less educated people with low incomes. They eventually become preys to poverty due to strong commitment to meritocracy in education, recent adaptations to the tax structure and government’s manpower policies towards attracting foreign talents as well as the widening income inequality. According to statistics, the proportion of Singapore residents earning less than S$1,000 ($690) a month rose to 18 percent in 2007, from 16 percent in 2002. At the same time, the proportion of those earning S$8,000 and above rose from 4.7 percent to 6 percent in the same period. This implies that Singapore’ economy boom results in the widening of income gap between the rich and poor even if everyone income is raised due to the Singapore Progress Package.

And so, the government felt greatly concern for its people and decided to lay out the different approaches towards poverty reduction.The government came out full force to help the less fortunate and eradicate poverty in the coming years through its various policies and schemes. However, this modest process was disrupted by the recent dire global financial and economical crisis which threatened the vulnerability of poverty even further. This accentuates the need to rethink of poverty reduction approaches that will be sustainable even in this times.

As such, The Singapore Union Party (SUP) seeks to contribute to rethinking of the measures taken to reduce and eradicate poverty. After assessing the progress in poverty reduction via the current policies by identifying the benefits and limitations that led to its inefficiency, we analysed how it will have an impact socially and economically. In addition, we have outlined our approach to tackle this issue so as to wipe out poverty completely. From here, Singapore will be able to maintain its thriving robust economy among its competitors.