Understanding Urban Poverty

A 2018 study by the National University of Singapore estimates that 12% of households in Singapore do not earn enough to meet their basic consumption needs, while 26% of households do not earn enough to ‘keep up’ with the rest of the country – a clear data that there are people in our country who are living in poverty.

About 50,000 of our society’s poorest households dwell in government-subsidised rental flats scattered across the island, which require a gross household monthly income of less than $1,500. To put this into perspective, a 2021 report on Singapore household budgets found that a family of four (two parents and two children) requires at least $6,426 per month to meet basic needs.

Singapore’s poverty thresholds

The question remains: How much deprivation does one have to endure to be deemed as living in poverty? How poor is too poor?

There is no official measure for Singapore's poverty line. That is, “the official level of income that is necessary to be able to buy the basic things you need such as food and clothes, and to pay for somewhere to live”, according to the Oxford dictionary.

Instead, Singapore measures certain thresholds that determine how much government assistance one may receive to alleviate one’s financial situation, based on household income.

However, as British sociologist Peter Townsend famously said, urban poverty is less about a shortage of income and more about the inability of people with low income to participate actively in society due to the effects of poverty.

In Singaporean sociologist Teo You Yenn’s enlightening book, “This Is What Inequality Looks Like”, she stresses that we cannot resolve Poverty without confronting Inequality. Drawing from the lived experiences of persons with low income, the book entails You Yenn’s three-year-long study on persons with low income through conversations, in-depth interviews, and observations to help shed light on the mechanisms of Singapore’s care structure.“In a city whose story to itself and the outside world is of rapid upward mobility, the people I have been meeting over the past few years are framed as ‘left behind’. More importantly, since mobility is cast as an individual endeavor, they are also marked as losers in the game, people who are ‘unable to keep up’. They are also often stuck in these positions by a confluence of educational credentials that do not open doors, jobs that are paid poorly, and care gaps that are not adequately addressed.” Teo You Yenn (pg. 30)

As Singapore continues to face rising wealth inequalities, how can we ensure no one gets left behind?

Urban poverty affects all aspects of one’s life – physically, socially and mentally. For one, the mental toll is huge, as individuals and families live in constant anxiety caused by a lack of security in areas such as food, housing, education, employment and medical care.

Some less observed effects of poverty include lower-income parents having to juggle multiple jobs to boost household income, leaving little to no time to help their children with schoolwork. Older children may have to take on caregiving duties, depriving them of time and energy to focus on their education. They may face discimination and social stigmas that minimise their participation in or reduce their opportunities for employment. And when it comes to putting food on the table, choosing healthier food isn’t always an option for people living in poverty due to cost and access.

It is important to realise that poverty is not a culmination of poor choices, and there are many external circumstances and complexities that make it difficult for one to break out of the poverty cycle.

As mentioned earlier, recognising that there are people among us who are living in poverty and familiarising ourselves with the lesser known effects of poverty will take us a step closer to eradicating urban poverty. We would then be able to better spot  the problems and gaps despite the lack of a benchmark such as a Singapore poverty line.

Efforts to eradicate urban poverty have also traditionally been spearheaded by government bodies, social work agencies and academics. However, every individual – whether you’re a student or a working adult, a home-maker or a business owner – can play a part to support those in our society struggling to make ends meet.

It begins with empathy

The first step is to better understand and analyse the lived experiences of our urban poor without prejudices. We need to put ourselves in their shoes and see things from their point of view to better understand urban poverty.

As such, The Best of You has created a compelling Interactive Simulation Experience (ISE), which explores urban poverty in Singapore from a child’s perspective. Titled “The Impossible Timetable of Ron”, it takes you through a day in the life of a resilient 11-year-old boy who lives in a cramped rental flat, giving you a glimpse of the thoughts and worries that plague him from the moment he wakes up for school, to the time he goes to sleep at night all because of the effects of poverty in his household.

Click to load the simulation

Through immersive digital storytelling, we hope to challenge the myth that ‘the poor’ is an exception in our society, and transform the way Singaporeans view members of our community who live in such circumstances.We invite you to enter the world of Singapore’s urban poor through The Impossible Timetable of Ron and take the first step to reimagine a more equal world, together:

Stay educated and informed

To work towards even better solutions to combat urban poverty, having a clear understanding of the problem at hand is key.

The Best of You has developed a helpful online Resource Hub filled with useful readings and information about urban poverty in Singapore. You can also discover practical ways to help uplift families and children like Ron who are grappling with urban poverty issues, pledge your support to social movements, seek volunteer opportunities with social impact organisations, and share the message with friends and family to build a community that supports those who are living in poverty.

Moreover, individuals struggling in urban poverty situations can also access the Resource Hub to seek aid from the various programmes run by social impact organisations and passionate individuals.

Explore the Resource Hub and discover how we can harness the power of community and effect greater change when we pool our efforts together.

• According to a Housing Development Board survey, 1/3 of Singaporeans living in one- or two-room flats are unemployed, apart from living in poverty. This unemployment issue is expected to increase due to the ongoing pandemic.
  

• Singapore was ranked 36th out of 150 nations for economic inequality in 2016, according to the CIA World Factbook.  This indicates that high-income families are enormously wealthy, whereas low-income families are highly impoverished.
  

• Singapore is by far one of the most expensive cities to live in for the fourth year in a row, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people living in poverty to afford basic essentials.
  

• According to Singaporeans Against Poverty, products and services have increased by 13.1% in the last three years. This entails that people affected by urban poverty are likely to find it even more difficult to meet their needs amidst the inflation.
  

• The lack of Singapore poverty line is affecting the way people perceive urban poverty in Singapore. Most people dismissed urban poverty as a relative issue rather than a real and factual experience.
  

• Children and elderly are the sector of the population that receive the most impact on the effects of poverty as they have less to no access to finances in the household.
  

• Urban poverty creates inequalities in terms of employment and career opportunities. Apart from graduates of well-known schools having the advantage when it comes to employment, career development needs funding which hinder poor individuals from achieving career growth.