In Singapore, aged people account for 15.5 per cent of the overall population. It makes the country one of Asia's fastest ageing societies outside Japan. The growing population of older people has increased the reliance on the working-age population. Here are four aspects that affect senior urban poverty in Singapore.
#1 Inadequate Government Vision
One out of every ten homes in Singapore is on the poverty line. Two of the variables that contribute to this are the longer lifespans of the elderly and their savings from years of labour that would depreciate annually. Poor communication skills, expensive medical expenditures, and ineffective government assistance programs are only a few factors contributing to the rise in older poverty.
#2 Government Program Ineffectiveness
Singapore's government has put programs to help the needy as a short- to medium-term support initiative. The elderly are usually discouraged from applying to these programs. Most of them lack understanding and get confused regarding the methods and criteria. High medical care expenditures due to ageing may potentially diminish the support offered.
#3 Insufficient Financial Planning
Due to forced retirement, the majority of Singapore's elderly are impoverished. A typical reason for this is a lack of cash due to poor personal decisions. Some examples are drug usage or refusal to relocate for work. Their lack of individual financial planning is also responsible for the increase in the proportions of senior urban poverty.
#4 Lack of Education
Most of Singapore's elderly speak only Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese. Their lack of communication skills makes improving their skills to improve one's profession a challenging task. The government offers language classes, but they fail to also cater to the illiterate. Overall, senior poverty is also due to other characteristics such as health, education, and employment possibilities.
Join The Best of You in their quest to alleviate the effects of social inequality in Singapore, even a little. The group also aims to aid in addressing the results of urban poverty. They hope you will take inspiration from the volunteer opportunities all over Singapore and will share your own experiences.
