Moves to strengthen safety nets, support families predicted for NDR 2024: Analysts

SINGAPORE – Tackling the higher cost of living and giving families more support will be on the cards for the

National Day Rally (NDR) 2024,

among other moves to strengthen social support and safety nets here, ana­lysts predicted. 

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s first NDR on Aug 18

will be a good platform to announce these moves while laying out his vision for Singapore in the decades to come, they said.

He has already given a preview of what to expect in

his National Day message.

In it, he spoke of helping workers seize new opportunities, keeping the cost of living stable, enhancing support for families and further strengthening social safety nets.

PM Wong, who took over in May

as Singapore’s fourth head of government,

had also warned of a dramatically changing world in his message, noting that the country would have to seek fresh solutions to build a better Singapore.

He will be delivering his rally in Malay, Mandarin and English. The Malay speech will start at 6.45pm, and will be followed by the Mandarin speech. PM Wong’s English speech is scheduled to start at 8pm. All three will be live-streamed on The Straits Times’ website and

YouTube channel.

Ways to strengthen social safety nets could include supporting the ageing population and addressing evergreen concerns about retirement adequacy, OCBC Bank’s chief economist Selena Ling said.

While a lot has been done in terms of support for families, especially for the sandwiched generation with ageing parents and young children, “the challenges of staying relevant in a dynamic job market, upskilling to cope with technology and AI (artificial intelligence) changes, the elevated cost of living, healthcare and education remain a potent mix”, she said.

Dr Tan Ern Ser, an adjunct principal research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies Social Lab, said that on the family front, there could be more childcare and eldercare leave and perhaps moves in the early childhood education and senior daycare sectors.

Associate Professor (Practice) Terence Ho from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy said that while Budget 2024 had already strengthened support for childcare, there may still be scope to further support families.

This could be through additional childcare or education subsidies or top-ups to the Child Savings Account, Child Development Account or education-related accounts. 

Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan noted that in the lead-up to the next general election, which he believes is likely to be no more than nine months away, it is significant that support for families and wanting to keep the cost of living in Singapore stable would be addressed in the rally.

“This is a top-of-the-mind issue and speaks to Singaporeans being able to plan for the future even as they deal with today’s issues,” he said.

On the cost of living, it is likely there will be more tranches of CDC vouchers announced, given the success and popularity of the scheme, analysts said.

Prof Ho noted that while support in the form of cash, CDC vouchers, utilities rebates and Central Provident Fund (CPF) top-ups are already in the pipeline for disbursement in the months ahead, going into 2025, it is possible that the Government still has dry powder to provide more.

Associate Professor Walter Theseira, a labour economist, said that while redistribution moves are good, the upcoming year or so will see wage growth slowing in nominal terms due to inflation moderating.

“Quite a few workers will feel that wage growth in the last few years will not be keeping up with inflation, and feel like they have a lower standard of living,” he said, noting that this would be a structural issue to be addressed.

On the topic of supporting workers, analysts said they were looking forward to more details on the re-employment support scheme, which was first officially

announced by then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at his last rally in 2023.

Prof Theseira said people would be interested to know about the quantum of support, the conditions for receiving it and what kind of concrete additional help would be provided for them to secure better employment.

Should the scheme involve only some income support for a few months, this could have been availed of through ComCare or other existing financial support schemes, he noted.

“A more robust amount, tied to training or job matching and coaching, could be of more value,” he said.

Dr Tan said the benefits would likely come with a requirement for the person to continue being economically active by taking up training or searching for a job.

He suggested that potential support for workers could also come in the form of more top-ups to CPF Retirement Accounts. People could also be given incentives to take up upgrading or retraining courses, or to encourage them to switch to a different sector with a projected manpower shortage.

OCBC’s Ms Ling said some of the themes mentioned in PM Wong’s National Day message are follow-ups from the Forward Singapore conversation.

“While not entirely new, it would be interesting to watch if any new policy initiatives will be forthcoming,” she said.

Prof Tan said Singaporeans can also expect to hear PM Wong’s vision and plans for Singapore in the next decade or so.

The 2024 rally will also likely be PM Wong’s last one before the next general election, so the backdrop to and tenor of the speech will be about growing trust and confidence in him and his team – that they are equal to the task of taking Singapore forward in a more complex world, he added.

“I anticipate a cautious yet upbeat mood about dealing with the challenges and turning them into opportunities.”