Strengthening the social compact with inclusive growth

Support for lower-wage workers to upskill and transform

More will be done for the lower-wage workers. For eligible Singapore Citizens and Permanent Resident employees under the existing Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS), the Government will:

To support the transition, the Minister announced an initial $2 billion PWCS injection to co-fund wage increases between 2022 to 2026. Qualifying businesses will be automatically enrolled. Co-funding ratios will vary between 50% to 15%, taper down towards 2026 and be applicable for wage increases of up to $3,000 of gross monthly wages. These PWCS refinements will further complement Workfare payout enhancements, which is expected to benefit more than half a million workers.

Preparing for our future healthcare needs

We are delighted to hear the Minister emphasise the importance of and the need for primary care, with the Government pushing for our three healthcare clusters to work more closely with the community partners. While the ‘Healthier SG’ strategy will be a challenging effort, it is worthwhile, as will be the focus on mental health.

The task of ensuring we have enough trusted - key word being “trusted” - primary care doctors, is not a simple one. While locally we have three medical schools churning out about 500 young doctors collectively annually, it may perhaps be worth spending time focusing on how to induce the majority of these doctors into primary care rather than have them compete for other medical and surgical specialties.

It is reassuring to hear that the Government is working towards embedding the lessons learnt during the pandemic when it comes to mental health. This is something that has historically been under-diagnosed but which desperately needs addressing.