ABSTRACT

The improved housing environment improved individual and public health conditions. Singaporeans can readily secure public housing home ownership in preparation for marriage, thus contributing to the stability of the family institution. The disproportionate increase in housing prices relative to income is exacerbated by the relative stagnation of wages among the middle class and real income declines in the low-skill, low-income strata. Before the 2011 General Election, the government had already begun to address the issue of public housing affordability. One of the measures undertaken was the provision of a Special Housing Grant to lower-income families with monthly household income not exceeding S$2,250 of a grant ranging between S$5,000 and S$20,000 in their Central Provident Fund. While expansion of rental housing for low-income households may have reduced the overt stigma of homelessness due to poverty, it does not address the structural conditions which produce poverty.