WSJ Blog, 11 Nov 2013
As Singapore’s decades-long rise in prosperity increasingly shows a widening wealth gap, this affluent city-state must do more to face up to the plight of its poor, a group of leading poverty researchers say.
Already, the government is stepping up social spending to help low-income citizens squeezed by stagnant wages and rising costs. But policy makers should go further, the researchers say, and better define what it means to be poor in one of Asia’s leading financial centers.
“Singapore does not have an official poverty line … Most Singaporeans are not aware of the scale and depth of poverty in Singapore,” the Singapore Management University’s Lien Center for Social Innovation said in a report published Monday. “It is time for Singapore to join comparably developed nations in officially defining and measuring poverty.” Full story
Related:
Why setting a poverty line may not be helpful: Chan Chun Sing - Singapolitics.sg
