Reviewing Eligibility Criteria for CDC Vouchers to Ensure Adequate Support for Needy Residents

Parliamentary Question by Mr Yip Hon Weng:

To ask the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) whether the Ministry will review the eligibility criteria for CDC Vouchers and similar social subsidies, including shifting from household-based to individual-based assessments, to better ensure that genuinely needy residents receive adequate support; and (b) how will the Ministry prevent support dilution in larger households where co-residence stems from financial need, thereby ensuring fair access for vulnerable members including seniors.

Parliamentary Reply by Second Minister for Finance, Ms Indranee Rajah:

We have a wide range of support schemes for different needs, some of which are given at household level and others at the individual level. 

The Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers scheme is designed to be a simple, broad-based scheme to help Singaporean households with daily expenses, as well as support heartland merchants and hawkers. 

This complements other schemes which provide targeted assistance at both the household and individual levels. Examples of household-level schemes would be U-Save and S&CC rebates.   Examples of assistance for individuals include the GST Voucher – Cash and MediSave and the Silver Support Scheme. 

For targeted assistance schemes, we use a range of individual-level and household-level criteria to ascertain means. One such criterion would be household income per person, which helps us to account for different household circumstances, including that of larger households. 

Assistance provided by the Government should therefore not be viewed through the lens of a single scheme but should take into account the full range of support provided in combination.

For households or individuals who may need more support, discretionary assistance schemes such as MediFund and ComCare are available.

The Government will continue to regularly review our measures to ensure Singaporeans are adequately supported, including those from larger households.