2025年1月7日，新加坡交通部长兼财政部第二部长徐芳达在国会书面答复宏茂桥集选区议员颜添宝有关修订政府援助计划的金额以更好地帮助中低收入工人的相关举措。
以下内容为新加坡眼根据国会英文资料翻译整理：
颜添宝（宏茂桥集选区议员）先生询问总理兼财政部长：目前针对中低收入工人的所有政府援助计划的支持金额是否可以进一步修订，以使他们能够应对由周期性和非周期性通货膨胀导致的生活成本上升？
徐芳达（交通部长兼财政部第二部长）先生：政府定期审查我们的社会支持计划的范围、覆盖面和支付金额。这些审查会考虑宏观经济趋势，包括通货膨胀和工资增长，以确保我们的支持规模适当，并针对那些有更大需求的人群。
在过去一年中，我们加强了惠及中低收入工人的社会支持计划。例如，我们从2025年1月1日起提高了“就业入息补助计划”（Workfare Income Supplement, WIS）的补助金额，将符合资格的月收入上限从2,500新元提高到3,000新元，并将每年的最高WIS补助金额从4,200新元增加到4,900新元。这些改进确保WIS能够在生活成本上升的情况下继续支持低收入工人。
政府还推出了一系列措施，支持所有新加坡人应对生活成本上升，特别是为中低收入家庭提供更多帮助。特别是，我们将“保障援助配套”（Assurance Package）的金额增加到超过100亿新元。这些改进包括2024年预算案中的生活成本特别补助（已于2024年9月发放）、社区发展理事会（CDC）购物券、额外的水电费节省（U-Save）以及服务与杂费（S&CC）回扣。
尽管社会支持措施发挥着重要作用，但帮助中低收入工人应对生活成本上升的最有效方式是使他们能够随着时间的推移增加实际工资。这就是为什么我们的优先事项之一是继续推动经济增长，创造更多优质就业机会，并通过技能提升和终身学习支持新加坡人从事这些工作。
我们的努力帮助工人们逐步增加了实际收入。他们收入的增长，甚至超过了通货膨胀率。根据人力部2024年新加坡劳动力预先报告，从2019年到2024年，实际收入中位数每年增长0.7%。低收入工人的实际收入增长更快，每年增长1.2%。
政府将继续密切关注情况，并在必要时采取进一步措施，加强对工人的支持。
以下是英文质询内容：
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether the current support quanta across all Government assistance schemes for low and medium-income workers can be further revised to enable them to stay above the increased cost of living resulting from cyclical and non-cyclical inflation.
Mr Chee Hong Tat: The Government regularly reviews the scope, coverage and payout quanta of our social support schemes. These reviews take into account macroeconomic trends, including inflation and wage growth, to ensure that our support is sized appropriately and targeted at those with greater needs.
Over the past year, we have enhanced social support schemes that benefit lower- and middle-income workers. For example, we enhanced the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme from 1 January 2025, with the qualifying monthly income cap raised from $2,500 to $3,000 and the maximum WIS payments per year increased from $4,200 to $4,900. These enhancements ensure that WIS continues to support lower-income workers amidst the rising cost of living.
The Government has also rolled out measures to support all Singaporeans with their cost of living, with more help given to lower- and middle-income families. In particular, we have enhanced the Assurance Package to more than $10 billion. The enhancements include measures, such as the Budget 2024 Cost-of-Living Special Payment that was disbursed in September 2024, Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers and additional utilities save (U-Save) and service and conservancy charges (S&CC) rebates.
While social support measures play an important role, the most effective way to help lower- and middle-income workers cope with the rising cost of living is to enable them to increase their real wages over time. This is why one of our priorities is to continue growing the economy to create more good jobs and support Singaporeans to take on these jobs through skills upgrading and lifelong learning.
Our efforts have helped our workers increase their real income over time. This is the increase in their income, which is above the rate of inflation. Based on the Ministry of Manpower’s Labour Force in Singapore Advance Release 2024, real median income grew at 0.7% per annum from 2019 to 2024. Real income for lower-wage workers grew at a higher rate of 1.2% per annum.
The Government will continue to monitor the situation closely and, where required, we will make further moves to strengthen the support for our workers.
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