A family of six, living on S$1,900 a month
How do those in the 'sandwiched class', who don't qualify for many assistance schemes, get by?
Updated 01:24 PM Nov 13, 2011
by Carolyn Quek and Yu Pei Fern [email protected]
The first thing you notice when you enter Madam Anna's (not her real name) flat is that the handles of the metal grille gate have broken off, with two wooden blocks crudely fastened in their place.
Her boys had been kicking a football around and damaged the gate, and to save money, the housewife and her husband decided to repair it themselves with pieces of wood someone had discarded at the void deck of their block in Choa Chu Kang.
The "curtain" that is draped across the living room windows is in fact a piece of colourful cotton fabric pegged to the window grille. The same fabric is also used as a throw for the sofa. Instead of chairs, the family sits on wooden benches and stools.
A large Panasonic TV and a personal desktop computer take pride of place in the living room of the flat which the family has called home for the past 10 years. Madam Anna explains that these items were given to them by her youngest brother's friend who was moving house and did not want them anymore. "Nowadays people use sophisticated TV right? But for us that one not important; can watch can already," said the 48-year-old, alluding to the fact that her TV and computer monitor are not the snazzy flat-screen type in fashion these days.
For Madam Anna, any money saved is money that will go a long way for her family of six - they have three boys aged 15, 10 and 8 and a daughter, 3.
Madam Anna, who studied up to Secondary 2, had previously held jobs earning about S$500 a month. But since their children came along, the family has been getting by on her 46-year-old husband's income - he works as a transport supervisor at a local tourist attraction - with the occasional extra from her selling home-made curry puffs to the provision shop downstairs.
His salary and bonuses were enough for the family to buy a S$45,000 Toyota Vios about four years ago and make annual trips to parts of Malaysia, such as Genting Highlands and Kuala Lumpur.
But life threw a spanner in the works when her fourth child and only daughter was born prematurely at 29 weeks. Suffering from chronic lung disease, her daughter spent most of her first year in hospital and had to undergo an operation. She is left with a hole on her stomach, which Madam Anna dresses at least twice a day.
These days, the monthly medical expenses for the four-year-old girl - who also has developmental delay - amount to around S$300 and she requires almost round-the-clock attention from Madam Anna, making it difficult for Mum to work and supplement the family income.
Though a huge expense, Madam Anna and her husband decided to keep the car in part because their daughter's condition meant that she fell ill easily and it was better for her not to travel via public transport.
STUCK IN A HARD PLACE
Families like Madam Anna fall into a sandwiched class of low-middle income Singaporeans, who are in the 11th to 20th percentile in terms of resident household income making an average of about S$2,681 a month.
This was a group the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing recently expressed concern about. While not the poorest of the poor, these families are vulnerable to volatile economic tides; yet they do not qualify for many social assistance schemes because they earn too much.
At the same time, the income of this group of Singaporeans has not risen much in the past decade. A recent paper by the Manpower Ministry and the Singapore Department of Statistics found that nominal income for Singaporeans at the 20th percentile had grown by 1.7 per cent per annum - from S$1,200 in 2001 to S$1,400 last year. After accounting for inflation, however, real income growth was "flat".
Madam Anna's husband currently earns about S$2,300, but effectively takes home about S$1,900 after contributing to his Central Provident Fund. This money is used to pay not only for her daughter's medical expenses, but also for the children's school expenses, food, utilities, telephone and Internet bill and the monthly car instalment (see table).
What little is left - if any - Madam Anna squirrels away in a rainy-day fund, but she admits that it is not easy and only has just over S$1,000 in savings.
MAKING EACH CENT COUNT
To make her husband's salary go further, Madam Anna and her family take trips twice a month to Johor Baru to stock up on groceries and clothes for her fast-growing daughter. "A dress there can cost RM10 to RM20 (S$4 to S$8), which is much cheaper than in Singapore," the housewife said.
But, as for herself and her husband, their own appearance is "not important", she lets on, gesturing eloquently at her attire: A faded green Hang Ten Polo T-shirt that is at least 10 years old, as are most other items in her and her husband's wardrobe. Madam Anna said she could not remember the last time she bought something for herself, and she hardly wears make up now.
When she does her weekly marketing, she goes for the inexpensive stuff, like the smaller fish and vegetables such as cabbage and kang kong. She qualified: "Of course I want the good things, but they have to be cheap."
She admits, though, that she does give in to the occasional craving for McDonald's or KFC because her children love french fries. But that happens only every two months or so, and they try to go for the special promotions because "they are more value for money", she said.
Home is where she and her kids spend most of their time, when they are not at school. "People like to go window shopping, but frankly, I don't like to go to shopping centres because once you set foot in the door, it means you start spending money," said Madam Anna matter-of-factly.
PREFERENCE FOR SELF-RELIANCE
While not being able to qualify for most financial assistance schemes, Madam Anna has been receiving basic food rations such as rice and biscuits from Fei Yue Family Service Centre on an ad-hoc basis over the past few months.
She was referred to them through self-help group Mendaki, where her eldest son is attending tuition classes. Madam Anna's two younger sons, who are in Primary 4 and 2, have also been receiving S$55 each from a pocket money assistance scheme for the past two years. The youngest was awarded a bursary last year.
Preferring to be self-reliant, Madam Anna said she does not go out of her way to find out what assistance schemes are available for her family. The help afforded so far, therefore, has been incidental - but she is nonetheless grateful. "I always tell myself, there is someone out there worse off than me," she said.
She also does not want to trouble her relatives with her financial burdens because "they have their own problems".
What about having her husband change jobs in hopes of higher pay? She said she had discouraged him from doing so. When he started out 30 years ago with the company, he was only making about S$400 a month. "For someone with Primary 6 education, it's not easy for him to earn the salary he is earning now," Madam Anna said.
She looks forward to the day she can return to work as well. She was very keen to sign up for a customer service course that Mendaki had told her about recently, but was unable to attend because it meant too much time away from her daughter.
Seeing her daughter get better is her main priority now, as well as ensuring her other children obtain a good education. She shared how her eldest son bucked up in his studies after being relegated to the Normal Stream in Secondary 3 - so for that reason, she says, it was "good for him to fail".
Recently, he mooted the idea of taking up a part-time job. But Madam Anna is not keen, even if it would mean lessening the family's financial burden. "I want them to go as high as they can ... I want them to grow up and be good people."
MADAM ANNA'S FAMILY'S MONTHLY EXPENSES
Husband's take-home pay: S$1,900
Total expenses (approx): S$2,049
- Food and daily needs: S$200
- Electricity, water, gas: S$200
- Daughter's medical bill: S$300
- Mobile and home phone, Internet: S$200
- Car instalment: S$500
- Petrol and parking: S$200
- Town Council conservancy fees: S$45
- Pocket money for eldest son: S$200
- Madrasah classes for three sons: S$74
- Husband's expenses: S$100
- Daughter's Early Intervention Programme for Children & Infants fees: S$30
* The two younger boys get $110 in pocket money assistance. The family also gets ad hoc rations from Fei Yue Family Service
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Originally Posted by teddybear
i prolly cant walk anymore at 90!
