Debated in Parliament on 18 Feb 2019.
Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Manpower since the inception of the Silver Support Scheme in 2016 (a) how many Singaporeans who initially received payouts were assessed to be ineligible in subsequent years; (b) what support does the Scheme give to those between the bottom 20% to 30% of elderly Singaporeans; and (c) whether the Scheme's criteria for household monthly income per capita of $1,100 will be reviewed to exclude the income of the applicant's siblings living at the same address.
Mr Speaker, the Silver Support Scheme targets support at the bottom 20% of elderly Singaporeans aged 65 and above. Coverage may, however, extend to include up to the next 10% of elderly. Eligible elderly receive cash payouts of between $300 and $750 every quarter, according to the type of HDB flat they live in. Recipients living in smaller flat types receive higher payouts. The median quarterly payout has been $600, corresponding to the payout quantum for eligible elderly living in a 3-room HDB flat.
The automatic means-test assessment is done annually to take into account changes in circumstances of the elderly, to ensure Silver Support reaches those with lesser means as the Scheme was intended to do. In 2016, about 143,000 elderly received Silver Support payouts. Of these elderly, 33,000 no longer received Silver Support in 2019. About 14,000 had passed away while 18,000 had seen their household incomes rise above the eligibility threshold. At the same time, 42,000 elderly who were not receiving Silver Support in 2016 were assessed to be eligible for Silver Support by 2019. So, there is a net growth. Overall, the number of elderly eligible for Silver Support and the total annual amount paid out to recipients have been increasing each year. Right now, the Silver Support total payouts annually is about more than $330 million.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will review the Silver Support Scheme from time to time to ensure that it continues to provide meaningful support to the elderly who had low incomes throughout their lives and who now have little or no family support. We will also continue to assess appeals from those who have missed the income criteria on a case-by-case basis.
I have two supplementary questions for the Minister. The first is, I would like her to clarify whether the scheme target group remains the same. In other words, is it still targeted at the bottom 20% of the elderly, with some support for those between 20% and 30%? Because lately, some of the collaterals, including replies that we have received from the agency, do not seem to mention this second group of those between the bottom 20% and 30%. So, I would like the Minister to clarify whether this group between the bottom 20% and 30% is still within the target of the scheme.
The second supplementary question concerns sibling income. The Minister has earlier said that the Ministry will review from time to time the relevance of the means testing criteria. I would like to ask the Ministry to pay special attention to the consideration of sibling income, as the sibling would probably be of the same generation and also elderly, and if both of them are living together, it is likely that one or both of them do not really have other family support. So, it would be good for the scheme to look at those cases on a more generous basis.
Mr Speaker, to the Member's first question, yes, the target group has not changed. It remains the same.
On sibling income, I should give a little bit of background as to why we used per capita household income. The whole idea is that if people are living in the same household, it is more reasonable to expect that they are providing mutual support to each other. There are, of course, other ways of measuring a person's level of support. You could, for example, include their family members who do not live in the same household. But having considered the different options and assessed which one of it is more intrusive to establish, we finally settled on using the household income. I accept the fact that within the same household, the level of support may not be identical. So, for those who are non-family members, in other words, for example, they are unrelated people living in the same household, we do not include their income. But if they are related, including siblings, their incomes are included. However, if on a case-by-case basis, there is reason for us to consider otherwise, then we will also assess them.
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