This picture of the economic improvement of low-wage workers between 2006 and last year was given on Sunday in a government report that credited their 'significant progress' to aid initiatives tailored for them. The centrepiece in the array of aid is Workfare, the income supplement scheme which gives low-wage workers an average of $1,000 a year.

It made up the bulk of government aid with nearly $840 million distributed to low-income earners between 2006 and last year. The rest of the relief ranged from housing grants to training and education subsidies. The total payout of more than $1.1 billion is higher than the initial estimate of $800,000 to $1 billion, said the report released by the ministerial committee on low-wage workers.

Yesterday, the committee released a 60-page progress report which found that these workers 'have come a long way' since 2006.

One, wages have risen from $1,200 a month to $1,310 in 2008 for the bottom 20 per cent of full-time resident workers.

Two, the pool of residents earning $1,200 or less a month has shrunk from 360,000 to fewer than 300,000.

Three, the household income of families living in three-room or smaller HDB flats has risen by about $300 a month - from $1,910 to $2,200. Even with inflation, the increase is 3.5 per cent a year.

Four, more people are working, especially in families that live in smaller flats.

Commenting on the report on Sunday, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said: 'It shows many of our programmes have been effective in helping low-wage workers improve themselves.'

But Mr Gan, part of the eight-member committee led by Education Minister Ng Eng Hen, added that it is work in progress. 'There is still a lot more to do, and we will continue to see how we can enhance (their) competitiveness through training,' he told reporters after a community event.

Read the full report in Monday's edition of the Straits Times

sueann@sph.com.sg

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