Charity to release new index to measure gaps in social capital in S’pore

SINGAPORE - A new national index to measure gaps in social capital and disparities in access to opportunities that may influence life outcomes here will be released in early 2027.

Developed by local charity Access Singapore, with support from research firm Milieu Insight, the National Social Capital and Opportunity Index will be shared with the public and policymakers to inform discussions on social mobility and identify potential areas for intervention.

In February, the Government published for the first time a measure of wealth inequality in Singapore.

The Ministry of Finance’s (MOF) Occasional Paper on Income Growth, Inequality, and Social Mobility Trends in Singapore showed that social mobility had slowed.

MOF said Singapore has done relatively well in sustaining absolute intergenerational mobility, with a high proportion of children in lower- to middle-income households earning more than their fathers.

But relative intergenerational mobility has slowed as the economy matures, with a growing proportion of children from the poorest households struggling to move up the socio-economic ladder.

Speaking to the media, Access Singapore executive director Clarence Ching said the release of the occasional paper had raised many questions about social mobility.

“People want to make sense of the data, they want to know what they can do more of, and what the big issue at hand is,” he said on May 26 during the Access Social Mobility Summit 2026 held at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre.

Access Singapore previously conducted a social mobility survey in 2023, which found that about half of Singaporeans felt Singapore has become a more unequal society in the last decade.

The charity now hopes to study the topic further to understand what opportunities mean in practice, and how access to those opportunities differs across segments of society.

While details of the index are being worked out, the charity aims to survey at least 2,000 respondents across different age and racial groups. Data collection is expected to begin by July.

The biennial summit, organised by Access Singapore, brought together employers, educators, policymakers and non-profit organisations to exchange ideas to advance social mobility.

Minister for Health and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies Ong Ye Kung closed off the event with an off-the-record fireside chat on social mobility and inequality in Singapore.

In a statement, Access Singapore shared three recommendations to advance social mobility. It called for more career exposure programmes and mentorship initiatives for young people, more opportunities and second-chance pathways for people who experience setbacks in life, and strengthening Singapore’s social mobility data infrastructure so organisations can assess and learn from existing efforts here.

Investment banking firm Morgan Stanley announced a three-year partnership with Access Singapore at the summit to start a new youth development programme to support around 300 junior college students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The students will receive career exposure, mentorship, and guidance on workplace readiness and confidence building.

Jalan Besar GRC MP Shawn Loh said on May 26 that Singapore cannot and should not accept class entrenchment as a foregone conclusion.

In an opening speech at the summit, he said: “This is not a political statement to me, it is a moral imperative. Even if you do not agree, there are pragmatic reasons to lean against the trend.

“From an economic perspective, if children do not believe that they can change their station in life, you have a lower sense of agency, a lower level of motivation to apply themselves, and our economy reduces dynamism.”

Mr Loh, a former director at the Finance Ministry, said Singapore can do better to raise the basic level of public services available to every child.

In February, during the Budget debate, he had proposed that basic childcare, infant care and student care be free.

Speaking on May 26, Mr Loh said making basic after-school care free will ensure all children have access to a nurturing school environment for longer.

“In fact, no government school should assume that children have access to private tuition. We should provide Ministry of Education teachers with enough resources, so that no teacher feels like they need to tell parents to send their children to private tuition.”

Mr Loh said Singapore must also continually review if well-intentioned policies have inadvertently become sources of class entrenchment.

“Social capital should be more democratised.”

For example, policies to base primary school admissions on alumni networks may have outlived their purpose, he said.

Policies for more holistic assessments, including extracurricular achievements, have the unintended effects of advantaging children of parents with the means to fund enrichment activities, he added.

Beyond education, Singapore also needs to start looking more seriously at how it treats intergenerational wealth, Mr Loh said.

“Inheritance taxes are common policy even in many developed countries, and it’s certainly an important option that we should study.

“However, in a world where both people and capital are mobile, and given Singapore’s status as a hub for both talent and financial assets, we need to be more careful about how we implement any policy to that effect.”

Mr Loh said that for now, taxes on immovable assets, like investment properties, can continue to be made more progressive.

“Of course, the Government cannot do this alone. And it is not realistic to expect national policies to be perfect for everyone,” he said, adding that collaborating with partners like Access and other organisations in the social space is key.

“Your work helps to inform how we can collectively, as a society, better uplift those from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we said that in February, the Government published for the first time a measure of wealth inequality and social mobility trends in Singapore. This is incorrect. It was not the first time social mobility data was released.