Singapore
Singapore | May 2013
SGD 18.33; SGD 2.22 (USD 1.79, EUR 1.37) for food.
This is based on per capita per-day basis of the main public assistance income threshold for Singapore, and low-income household food expenditure.
Singapore does not have an official poverty line. The government’s stance is to take a tailored approach for the social safety net, and it generally tries to provide assistance to the poorest 20% of households. For this project, a proxy using the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s ComCare assistance income threshold was used. Other public and non-governmental organisations with assistance schemes have differing definitions.
Income disparity has become a much debated issue in Singapore in recent years, with income inequality increasing over the past ten years. Singapore’s Gini coefficient was 0.457 (before government transfers and taxes) in 2012, using the modified OECD scale. The government has been ramping up distribution of benefits such as cash vouchers and utilities subsidies to lower income households and emphasizing on education and skills upgrading.
Note: Latest available standards and exchange rates were taken as of May 2013, when the photography was undertaken.
Understanding More