High time, and about time they finally looked at filtering out
the number of UNSKILLED foreigners coming to Singapore to take away
jobs our own unskilled workers could have had.
It always has to wait till something, hits the fan and it's all
over the place....
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Frm ASIAONE News
Straddling income gap
Jul 12, 2006
The Straits Times
THE latest General Household Survey findings, released last week,
were not a surprise. But to see the figures spelt out starkly was a
jolt nevertheless. Though the average monthly income rose
substantially from $4,940 in 2000 to $5,400 last year, the income
gap between the rich and the poor also widened considerably. While
the income of the top 10 per cent of families increased by 14.7 per
cent between 2000 and 2005, the income of families in the 11th to
the 20th percentile fell by 4.3 per cent. The income of the top 20
per cent of households is now 31 times that of the bottom 20 per
cent.
One explanation for this growing gap is the increasing number of
retiree households. In 1990, there were 164,400 people over the age
of 65; in 2004, there were 296,900. Most in this age group do not
earn wages - the only source of income the survey measured - but
live off their savings. The Department of Statistics also noted
that the higher unemployment rate in 2004, compared with 2000,
might also explain the drop in wages for the bottom 20 per cent.
The chief explanation for the phenomenon, however, is
globalisation. The income gap is widening in Singapore for the same
reason it is widening in other advanced economies: The entry of
low-cost countries into the global marketplace has meant intense
wage pressure at the low-skilled end of the job spectrum in
countries like Singapore.
What is it going to do about it? Should it even try to do
something? The answer to the second question is obvious: Yes. The
alternative would be to allow society to become atomised, and
social cohesion to fracture. The answer to the first is not so
obvious. Cash payments, like the Government's $2.6 billion Progress
Package, help considerably, but it is not something that can occur
frequently. Skills upgrading is a better long-term solution. Though
it may take time to bear fruit, as the NTUC's Halimah Yaccob has
pointed out, it is far preferable to outright welfarism. In
addition, Singapore might consider seriously restricting the entry
of unskilled foreign workers in areas where low-skilled
Singaporeans have the greatest potential for skills upgrading.
Their easy availability arguably depresses the wages of these
Singaporeans. Cheap foreign construction workers for example
militate against the creation of higher-paying, higher-skilled
construction jobs. Perhaps the time has come to reconsider these
policies.