Lower-income families to get temporarily higher payouts under two ComCare schemes

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SINGAPORE - Monthly payouts for lower-income Singaporean households under the ComCare Interim Assistance scheme will be temporarily increased to at least $250 per month for up to three months, to tide them through higher costs due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Currently families receive such support based on their household needs.

Households currently on the ComCare Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance (SMTA) scheme who need more help can also approach social service offices to apply for a temporary supplementary allowance.

This will increase their monthly cash assistance by at least 5 per cent or $50, whichever is higher, for up to three months.

For example, a five-person household with an elderly member and two school-going children that currently receives around $2,500 monthly cash assistance from the SMTA scheme will now receive around $130 more per month under the supplementary allowance.

The temporary enhancements to both the SMTA and Interim Assistance schemes will apply between August 17 to December 31.

The enhanced support for ComCare Interim Assistance was announced by Second Minister for Finance Jeffrey Siow at a press conference at the Treasury Building on July 29. Greater flexibility will be exercised in the income eligibility criteria so that more households can qualify, he said.

Currently, the income eligibility criteria is a monthly $800 per capita household income. But households facing financial difficulty may apply for the interim assistance even if their income is above the current threshold, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said in a separate statement on July 29.

To qualify, applicants must be lower-income Singapore citizens or permanent residents with at least one citizen immediate family member in the same household. They must also live in public housing and not be currently receiving ComCare assistance.

Households that require longer-term support may be assessed for other forms of ComCare assistance, MSF said. Those who need assistance can apply online via the SupportGoWhere portal at https://supportgowhere.life.gov.sg or approach a community club.

In a statement, Senior Minister of State for Social and Family Development Goh Pei Ming said: “We know that lower-income households may find it harder to absorb increases in their daily expenses, especially if they have limited savings. We want them to know that help is available.

“That is why we have enhanced ComCare Interim Assistance and introduced the Temporary Supplementary Allowance to better support these households. These changes are over and above regular reviews to ComCare, which factor in latest price data and projected inflation.”

This the second tranche of assistance measures as part of the Government’s $1 billion package for households and businesses announced in April, following the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East.