The plight of the low-income?

I refer to the article “Why low-income parents may make ‘poor choices’” (Straits Times, Mar 10, 2016).

We need to care more for the low-income?

It states that “As we gain awareness about inequality and poverty, how we look at problems has a real impact on the solutions we craft.

Better-off Singaporeans should care about low-income people because they are a part of our society.”

Govt needs to care more too?

By the same token, arguably, the Government also needs to care more about low-income people.

$9 per household per day assistance?

In this connection, ComCare gave $130 million of assistance to about 40,000 households in the last financial year.

This works out to only an average of about $271 ($130 million divided by 40,000 households divided by 12 months) per household per month, or about $9 per day ($271 divided by 30 days).

Less than 0.1% of GDP?

As out GDP is about $400 billion –  our ComCare spending is less than 0.1 per cent of GDP.

Lowest in the world?

Is this the lowest spending as a percentage of GDP of all the developing and developed countries in the world?

Less than 0.25% of govt expenditure?

With government operating expenditure in the Budget at about $56 billion – ComCare spending as a percentage of government operating expenditure is less than 0.25 per cent.

Leong Sze Hian