Lina (not her real name), 42, smiled as she watched her four children playing in the family’s single-room rental flat in Jalan Kukoh.
But that smile disappeared as she laid out the family’s expenses.
Her husband Adam (also not his real name), 54, usually brings home $1,600 from his cleaning job and the family still needs financial help from the Government’s ComCare fund and sometimes has to borrow from relatives to get by.
Overnight, Adam’s income dropped to zero when his employer had to close shop late last month.
With the month-long circuit breaker, the family – struggling to stay afloat before – is now in an even more precarious situation.
Adam’s situation is not unique. Many of some 300,000 Singapore residents who earn below $2,000 have seen dips in their income during the pandemic, especially after new measures on 7 April, restricted businesses deemed non-essential.
Beyond Social Services helped 84 families financially in the whole of last month (March). But just five days into the circuit breaker, it received 123 applications for help.
The charity contacted 300 families it is helping, and three in four said they needed more financial aid. Many have little to no savings to help cushion themselves from the virus’ economic fallout.
The $600 Solidarity Payment, which went out to nine in 10 Singaporean adults last Tuesday (14 April 2020), has provided such low-income families with much-needed respite from the loss of income.
Though given out equally to each person, the payment’s benefit to struggling families is higher. It was also given automatically without the need for reams of paperwork.
ComCare, for example, requires beneficiaries to return to the social service office every few months so that the Government can assess the family’s circumstances and adjust the amount of aid given accordingly.
Ms Nisa Nurdini, a social worker with Yishun Family Service @ Children’s Society, said that being on ComCare also makes low-income families ineligible for further support from some Budget measures such as the Temporary Relief Fund, which gives $500 to those who have lost jobs or income due to Covid-19.
At the same time, existing aid may be insufficient to meet basic needs with a dip in a vulnerable family’s income, said Ms Nisa.
Read more here.
Source: The Straits Times, 19 April 2020